Current:Home > MarketsSenegalese opposition leader Sonko sent back to prison after weeks in hospital during hunger strike -Quantum Finance Bridge
Senegalese opposition leader Sonko sent back to prison after weeks in hospital during hunger strike
View
Date:2025-04-24 18:28:33
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has returned to prison after weeks of undergoing medical treatment in the hospital during a hunger strike to protest his detention on charges he says are politically motivated.
The announcement comes just days before Senegal’s Supreme Court is due to rule on whether Sonko can take part in the upcoming February election despite being struck from the country’s voter rolls after his conviction on charges of corrupting youth earlier this year.
Prison authorities said Sonko’s transfer back to Cap Manuel prison in Dakar on Tuesday took place as “the result of a recommendation by his attending physician.”
“Wherever he is detained, the result is the same: President Ousmane Sonko remains a favourite candidate in the presidential election, arbitrarily detained and deprived of his rights by his political opponents,” said El-Malick Ndiaye, the press officer for Sonko’s opposition party.
Sonko finished third in the last presidential election, and his supporters believe that the slew of criminal allegations brought against him since 2021 are part of an orchestrated campaign to derail his political aspirations ahead of a presidential election in February.
In June, Sonko was acquitted on charges of raping a woman who worked at a massage parlor and making death threats against her. But he was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison, which ignited deadly protests across the country.
In late July, Senegalese authorities formally dissolved Sonko’s political party and placed him in detention. He is now facing charges of calling for insurrection, conspiracy against the state and other alleged crimes.
Senegal’s Interior Ministry removed Sonko from the voter rolls after his conviction earlier this year on charges of corrupting youth. However, the decision was later overturned by a judge in the southern city of Ziguinchor, where Sonko serves as mayor.
The judge ordered that Sonko be allowed to have sponsorship forms for the presidential election in the same way as other candidates. But his chances of taking part in the presidential election is uncertain. The Supreme Court is due to rule Friday on the Ziguinchor judge’s ruling.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- African tortoise reunites with its owner after being missing for 3 years in Florida
- 2 dead, 18 injured in Tampa street shooting, police say
- The Fed will make an interest rate decision next week. Here's what it may mean for mortgage rates.
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Adolis Garcia's walk-off homer in 11th inning wins World Series Game 1 for Rangers
- Matthew Perry Dead at 54: Relive His Extraordinarily Full Life in Pictures
- 12 people die in a plane crash in the Brazilian Amazon
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- Man sentenced to jail in Ohio fishing tournament scandal facing new Pennsylvania charges
Ranking
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- 4 people, including 2 students, shot near Atlanta college campus
- AP Top 25 Takeaways: No. 6 OU upset; No. 8 Oregon flexes; No. 1 UGA, No. 4 FSU roll before CFP debut
- 1 dead, 8 others injured in shooting at large party in Indianapolis
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Food delivery business Yelloh to lay off 750 employees nationwide, close 90 delivery centers
- Ohio high court upholds 65-year prison term in thefts from nursing homes, assisted living facilities
- Residents of Maine gather to pray and reflect, four days after a mass shooting left 18 dead
Recommendation
Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
Man charged in killing of Nat King Cole’s great-nephew
UAW and Stellantis reach tentative contract agreement
A reader's guide for Let Us Descend, Oprah's book club pick
Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
Maine hospital's trauma chief says it was sobering to see destructive ability of rounds used in shooting rampage
At least one killed and 20 wounded in a blast at convention center in India’s southern Kerala state
Moms for Liberty unexpectedly finds itself at the center of a heated suburban Indiana mayoral race