Senegal’s opposition leader hospitalised a week into prison hunger strike

Senegal’s jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who has been on hunger strike in prison to protest against criminal charges, was hospitalised on Sunday, his party said.

Mr Sonko was imprisoned last week in advance of criminal proceedings against him on charges of calling for insurrection, conspiracy against the state and other charges.

The reason for his hospitalisation at the Main Hospital in Dakar was not immediately clear.

“Prior to his imprisonment, he was in good health and had no known illnesses,” said the statement from Mr Sonko’s now-dissolved Patriots of Senegal (PASTEF) party.

Mr Sonko announced on July 30 on X, formerly Twitter, that he would start his hunger strike. The announcement came a day before a judge in the capital Dakar ordered his imprisonment.

The latest charges against Mr Sonko came weeks after a judge convicted him in a separate case of corrupting youth and sentenced him to two years in prison, which ignited deadly protests across the nation.

Last week, at least four people died and several were injured in fresh protests after Mr Sonko was detained in a prison just outside Dakar.

Mr Sonko came third in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and is popular with the country’s youth. His supporters maintain the charges against him are part of a government effort to derail his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.

Mr Sonko’s health emergency comes the day after his lawyer, Juan Branco, was arrested in Mauritania and extradited to Senegal, where he is in a Dakar prison, according to Mr Branco’s lawyer, Robin Bindard.

Mr Bindard said on Sunday that Mr Branco is being held for alleged dissemination of false information, conspiracy against the state and other charges.

“The mission of a lawyer … is sacred, and you can’t reproach a lawyer for defending his client,” said Mr Bindard.

Interior minister Antoine Felix Diome announced Mr Branco’s arrest to applause in a National Assembly meeting Saturday.