Staff Writer
Firebrand Following his arrest this week, Senegalese opposition lawmaker Ousmane Sonko said on Sunday that he has begun a hunger strike while in detention. His attorneys denounced the arrest.
The public prosecutor of Senegal issued seven additional accusations against the politician on Saturday. The politician has been a vociferous opponent of President Macky Sall and has encountered a number of legal issues, which he alleges are intended to prevent him from entering politics.
Sonko penned a letter in which he invited “all political detainees” to participate in the strike, saying, “In the face of so much hate, lies, oppression, and persecution, I have decided to resist.”
A judge is supposed to question him on Monday.
Sonko’s attorneys said at a press conference on Sunday in the capital Dakar that the authorities had not upheld his rights.
Juan Branco, a French citizen, was one of them, and he attended the news conference even though Senegalese authorities issued an international arrest demand for him on July 14.
Branco replied, “We came here to let you know that we were not afraid.
I promise to stand up for Ousmane Sonko because in his body are housed the hopes of a whole nation and, by extension, of all humankind.
On June 22, Branco said he had accused Sall of committing “crimes against humanity” in France and asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to look into the matter.
More than 100 other people were charged in his initiatives, including Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome and Gendarmerie Chief General Moussa Fall.
Senegal’s Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall condemned the action as “childish and puerile” and said it fell far short of the standard required for judicial review. The move incited outrage in Senegal.
Case of moral corruption
Sonko’s attorneys also contended that because he had been tried in absentia, his arrest on the new claims nullified his conviction in a well-known moral corruption case.
The penal code of Senegal states that any conviction is immediately overturned if defendants who are being prosecuted in absentia are apprehended within a specific time frame, unless they specifically agree to the punishment within ten days.
On June 1, after he was given a two-year prison sentence, fighting broke out, leaving at least 16 people dead.
He will be unable to run in the presidential election of the following year due to the sentence.
The prosecution asserted that there is no connection between the Friday arrest and the new charges that were made public on Saturday and the moral corruption case.
His recent remarks, rallies, and other events, including a Friday incident that resulted in his detention at home, are the subject of the new allegations.
They include inciting rebellion, compromising national security, engaging in unlawful association with a terrorist organization, and stealing.
According to his attorney, a well-known Senegalese journalist and government opponent was also detained on Saturday and went on a hunger strike.
In a live webcast on YouTube on Friday, Pape Ale Niang discussed Sonko’s detention.
