Firebrand Following his arrest this week, Senegalese opposition lawmaker Ousmane Sonko said on Sunday that he has begun a hunger strike while in detention. His attorneys denounced the arrest.
On Saturday, Senegal’s public prosecutor unveiled seven additional allegations against the politician, a vociferous opponent of President Macky Sall who has been plagued by legal issues that, in his opinion, are intended to keep him out of politics.
“In the face of so much hate, lies, oppression, persecution, I have decided to resist,” Sonko wrote, inviting “all political detainees” to join him on the strike.
A judge is supposed to question him on Monday. Sonko’s attorneys said at a press conference on Sunday in the capital Dakar that the authorities had not upheld his rights.
Juan Branco, a French citizen, was one of them, and he attended the news conference even though Senegalese authorities issued an international arrest demand for him on July 14.
“We came here to tell you that we were not afraid,” Branco said.
“I swear to defend a man, Ousmane Sonko, whose body carries the hopes of an entire people, and therefore, of all humanity.”
On June 22, Branco said he had accused Sall of committing “crimes against humanity” in France and asked the International Criminal Court in The Hague to look into the matter.
More than 100 other people were charged in his initiatives, including Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome and Gendarmerie Chief General Moussa Fall.
Senegal’s Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall condemned the action as “childish and puerile” and said it fell far short of the standard required for judicial review. The move incited outrage in Senegal.