Murder Case Against Cheikh Béthio Thioune Tests Senegal's New Government DAKAR, Senegal - The singsong chanting wafted over the seaside neighborhood all night, and during the day the poor flocked to the edge of the religious leader's compound to share sumptuous open-air banquets, feasting on giant pots of rice, five steers barbecued whole, camels, couscous and other delicacies. Leading politicians courted the leader, and thousands followed his word. That was before a murder scandal rocked this normally even-tempered West African nation. Today, the leader, Cheikh Béthio Thioune, sits in an austere jail cell in Dakar's central prison surrounded only by crates of yogurt and soft drinks sent by well-wishers. The bodies of two young men, renegade disciples of the sheik, were discovered by the police last April in a shallow grave deep in the Senegalese countryside. They had been severely beaten; one was still breathing when he was buried, prosecutors say. The sheik was charged with accessory to murder. Prosecutors say Mr. Thioune, angry at the incursion of the apostates into his rural domain outside Dakar, the capital, all but directed a retinue of followers to beat the two young men, Ababacar Diagne and Bara Sow, to death. The prosecution has led to recent rioting in the streets of Dakar by Mr. Thioune's supporters and provoked a government shake-up last month that brought down the interior minister - his sons were reported by the Senegalese news media to be disciples. Nearly every day, the newspapers here report new twists in the case: the burly Mr. Thioune, 76, is having cardiology tests; he has been secretly visited in his jail cell by his youngest wife, Adja Déthié Pène, who slipped in disguised as a nurse; he has been removed from his cell to be interrogated by the police. The subtext is always the same: amazement that a charismatic religious leader, once so influential and wealthy from his disciples" contributions, could have been brought so low. "There are facts here that we didn't invent," said Mouhamadou Moustapha Seye, a judge who directs the Justice Ministry's human rights office. It is certain that if there had not been a change of government, there would never have been a prosecution. Abdoulaye Wade, the former president and one of the sheik's principal allies, was defeated in April after a tumultuous campaign. The decision by the new government, led by President Macky Sall, to prosecute Mr. Thioune is viewed by analysts as a healthy sign that it may pursue previously untouchable figures. "It's the most important test of Macky Sall's presidency," said Mamadou Diouf, director of African studies at Columbia University. If they are able to handle it on the basis of the rule of law, it will be an extraordinary victory, not only for him but for Senegalese democracy. The astonishment was apparent at the sweltering concrete Dakar courthouse last week. It was packed with disciples and family members of the dozens arrested after the Oct. 22 rioting, when cars, shops and buses were smashed and pedestrians were terrorized by stone-throwing "Thiantacounes," as the sheik's followers are known. In the courtroom, a judge summoned to the dock the ragged disciples in groups of eight; outside, supporters mobbed the door, extolling Mr. Thioune's generosity and holiness and accusing the new government of persecuting him. "He is our religious guide, our counselor, one who has contributed enormously to the re-education of our youth," said Bayh Gaye, who said he was a friend of Mr. Thioune. Mr. Thioune once attracted flocks of Senegalese youth with his all-night dances - shocking to more orthodox leaders in this predominantly Muslim nation, who express doubts about Mr. Thioune's knowledge of the Koran. He paid for my education. I lost my parents early," said Ibrahima Badiane, who came to the courthouse to support the sheik. This is all about politics. His adversaries have arrived in power. They are making him pay for his support of Wade. Fatou Diop contributed reporting.