Karim Wade, son of a former President who was at one time a senior minister in the Senegal government, was on Monday sentenced to six years in prison for corruption in what his defense lawyer said was a witch hunt to eliminate him from the presidential race.

Wade, the son of Senegal’s former president Abdoulaye Wade, is running for presidency on an opposition ticket.

He was sentenced for illegally amassing $1.4 billion in foreign accounts mostly in the Virgin Islands.

The court came to a verdict which includes a fine of around $230 million. His lawyer said he had appealed the sentence.

“The government wants to kill Abdoulaye Wade and he doesn’t deserve it. He did everything for this country and look what they are doing to his son. The verdict is wrong,” said one Wade supporter who was demonstrating outside the court.