Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko, imprisoned since the end of July on various charges including “incitement to insurrection,” has “suspended” his hunger strike that began more than a month ago, a spokesman for his party said on Saturday morning announced on August 2nd.
“Ousmane Sonko has just ended his hunger strike,” Mr. Sonko’s party’s communications manager, El Malick Ndiaye, wrote in a message posted on his Facebook page At (formerly Twitter), also sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP), without providing further details on the circumstances of this decision.
Mr. Sonko, whose struggle for power and justice has gripped Senegal for more than two years, announced he would begin his hunger strike on July 30. He has been hospitalized in Dakar since August 6th.
Also read: In Senegal the unyielding power is after a month of hunger strike by Ousmane Sonko
In recent days there have been several calls, particularly from very influential religious leaders in Senegal, a predominantly Muslim country, for Mr Sonko to end his hunger strike, while his activists and supporters have called for his release.
Deterioration of his health
Mr Sonko had “accepted the caliph’s request”, General Serigne Mountakha Mbacké, the leader of the powerful Mouride Muslim Brotherhood, told AFP on Saturday. “People were able to talk to him and he decided to end the hunger strike,” he added.
On August 22, the Mouride Caliph received in Touba (centre of the country) a delegation from the coalition of which Mr. Sonko is a member. He asked him to send an appeal to the opponent so that he could start eating again and at the same time have him send appointments, a member of this delegation told AFP.
His lawyers also issued several warnings about the deterioration of his health and announced that the life of their client, who had been “admitted to intensive care” in a hospital in Dakar since August 17, was “in danger.” In a press release sent to AFP on Friday night, they called on the state to “urgently take all necessary measures to prevent a tragedy from occurring”.
The latter, a candidate for the 2024 presidential election, was found guilty on June 1 of debauchery of a minor and sentenced to two years in prison. Because he refused to appear at the trial, which he denounced as a conspiracy to disqualify him from running for president, he was convicted in absentia.
He has since been detained in late July on additional charges, including “incitement to insurrection,” “criminal organization in connection with a terrorist enterprise,” and “endangering state security.” Authorities are questioning his responsibility in a series of protest episodes sparked by his power conflict and problems with the justice system since 2021 – the most serious in June – which have left several people dead.
Mr Sonko’s lawyers argue that since their client has been arrested since his conviction, he must be retried. They rely on the current rules governing the conduct of a trial in the absence of the person being tried. But in an online interview published by Jeune Afrique on Wednesday, Senegalese Justice Minister Ismaïla Madior Fall explained that the opponent’s conviction in a morality trial was “final” and would make him ineligible for the 2024 presidential election.
Also read: Senegal: Is Ousmane Sonko really out of the race for the February 2024 presidential election?