Moustapha Lô (died 15 June 1967) was a

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

ese man who attempted to assassinate Senegalese President

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...

on 22 March 1967 at the Dakar Grand Mosque. Lô pointed his pistol towards Senghor after he had participated in the sermon of Tabaski, but the gun did not fire. Lô was convicted of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, was sentenced to death by a Senegalese court and was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

. Lô was the second of two people who have been executed by Senegal since its independence in 1960.

Notes

References

*Elimane Fall, "La démocratie à l'épreuve", ''

Jeune Afrique ''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...

'', no. 1760, 1994-10-05 *Keesing's Publications (1972). ''Africa Independent: A Survey of Political Developments'' (New York: Scribner) p. 236 1967 deaths 1967 crimes in Senegal 20th-century executions for treason People executed by Senegal by firing squad Executed Senegalese people People executed for treason against Senegal Senegalese assassins Year of birth missing {{Senegal-bio-stub Executed failed assassins