Popular Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who has been on a two-week hunger strike in protest of his detention, has been admitted to intensive care, according to his allies.
According to Ousseynou Ly, a member of Mr. Sonko’s Pastef party, which the Senegalese government forced to shut down, “Mr. Sonko was the victim of an illness that occurred last night”.
He had been transferred to the intensive care unit, according to a medical source at Hospital Principal in Dakar, the nation’s capital.
Following charges and detention for, among other offenses, insurrection and conspiracy against the state, Pastef claims that the authorities are “responsible” for Mr. Sonko’s condition. No official statement regarding Mr. Sonko’s condition has been made by the authorities.
He intends to run for president in February of 2024 but has been embroiled in a contentious power struggle with the government ever since he was under investigation in a moral corruption case in 2021.
“From the state of Senegal, we do not ask many things, except for the rights and freedom of Ousmane Sonko,” said Habib Sy, president of the opposition coalition Yewwi Askan Wi.
Mr. Sonko was given a two-month prison sentence in absentia in June; he claimed this decision was driven by politics.
According to Amnesty International, that sparked irate clashes between the supporters, which resulted in the deaths of 24 people.
He was detained the following month and earlier this week he was accused of inciting uprising.
Source-BBC
