In Senegal, in his standoff with power, Ousmane Sonko has heard the calls of religious leaders. The opponent, detained on various charges, “suspended” his hunger strike on Saturday, which began more than a month ago, but his participation in the 2024 presidential election remains compromised by a conviction in a sex scandal.
Ousmane Sonko, whose balance of power with power has held Senegal spellbound for more than two years, announced that he had started his hunger strike on July 30, two days after his arrest followed by his detention on August 1 in Sebikotane, near Dakar. He was then transferred on August 6 to a hospital.
Macky Sall announces not to run again in 2024
Presidential candidate in February 2024, Ousmane Sonko, 49, third in the 2019 presidential election, accuses President Macky Sall, who denies it, of wanting to exclude him from the ballot through legal proceedings. The head of state, elected in 2012 for seven years and re-elected in 2019 for five years, announced in early July that he would not stand for re-election.
“Ousmane Sonko has just suspended his hunger strike”, announced the communication manager of Ousmane Sonko’s party, El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, in a message on his Facebook page and on X. “I confirm the information” , announced Bamba Cissé, a lawyer member of the Collective of the defense of the opponent.
Ousmane Sonko “acceded to the request of Caliph” General Serigne Mountakha Mbacké, the leader of the powerful Muslim brotherhood of the Mourides, a member of his entourage said on Saturday. On August 22, the caliph had received a delegation from the coalition to which Sonko belongs. He had asked him to send the opponent a call to start eating again. Several calls, in particular from very influential religious leaders in Senegal, have been launched in recent days for Ousmane Sonko to stop his hunger strike.
Found guilty of debauchery of a minor
Another lawyer for Ousmane Sonko, Ciré Clédor Ly, cited “two reasons” for his client’s decision. “He could not remain insensitive to the call of millions of people who are relieved by this suspension”. In addition, “he was never suicidal, he must not exhaust his vital organs. It was therefore indicated that he suspend” his hunger strike. His lawyers had issued several alerts on the deterioration, according to them, of his state of health. The Senegalese authorities had for their part questioned this hunger strike.
Ousmane Sonko was convicted on June 1 of underage debauchery and sentenced to two years in prison. Having refused to appear at the trial, which he denounced as a plot to exclude him from the presidential election, he was convicted in absentia. He has since been imprisoned at the end of July on other charges, including calling for insurrection, criminal association in connection with a terrorist enterprise and undermining state security.