Son of ex Senegal Prez. Karim sentenced to 6yrs imprisonment

Karim Wade was also fined $230m (£150m) for illegal enrichment during his father’s 12-year rule.

He was chosen at the weekend as the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, the PDS.

President Macky Sall warned last week that his government would not tolerate any attempt to destabilise Senegal after the court gave its verdict.

Mr Sall defeated Abdoulaye Wade in fiercely contested elections in 2012.

Karim Wade was accused of illegally amassing about $1.4bn and has been in detention since April 2013.

Judge Henri Gregoire Diop said he had hidden away funds in offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands and Panama, Reuters news agency reports.

“The facts before us constitute illicit enrichment by Karim Wade,” the judge is quoted as saying.

Opposition supporters inside the courtroom shouted in protest, denouncing the verdict as “shameful”.

Wade was a senior minister in his father’s government, and was in charge of major infrastructure and energy projects.

His large portfolio led to him being dubbed “the minister of the earth and the sky”.

His arrest came after the new government vowed to tackle corruption.