2023-08-18 07:00:00
TURNING. Detained since the end of July, the leader of Pastef, a recently dissolved party, in his showdown with power and justice, had started a hunger strike.
By Le Point Afrique (with AFP) On hunger strike since July 30, Ousmane Sonko was admitted to hospital on August 6. According to his lawyers and his party, he would now be in the intensive care unit of the main hospital in Dakar since Thursday August 17. © JOHN WESSELS / AFP Published on 08/18/2023 at 05:46 – Modified on 08/18/2023 at 07:00
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The information was given by his lawyer and his party. The Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko would have been admitted this Thursday in an intensive care unit at the main hospital in Dakar. Questioned by AFP, several government officials were careful not to confirm or deny the admission to intensive care of Ousmane Sonko, declared presidential candidate of 2024 but imprisoned at the end of July under various charges, including appeal to the insurrection, association of criminals in connection with a terrorist enterprise and attack on the security of the State. Claiming to be the subject of a plot to remove him from the presidential election, Ousmane Sonko had started a hunger strike on July 30. Authorities questioned whether he was strictly observing the strike. Anyway, the 49-year-old opponent has been hospitalized since August 6. His supporters and his lawyers have since been sounding the alarm about his state of health.
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His presence in intensive care confirmed by several sources
One of Mr. Sonko’s lawyers, Me Ciré Clédor Ly, told AFP that he went to the intensive care unit of the main hospital in Dakar on Thursday afternoon, where he obtained confirmation of the presence of his customer. He preferred not to approach her, but Mr. Sonko “hasn’t recovered his senses since yesterday”, he said. Another lawyer for Mr. Sonko, Me Bamba Cissé, also mentioned his admission to intensive care. Mr. Sonko’s Facebook page, which is still active, reports that he was “admitted to the intensive care unit of Dakar’s main hospital following an illness” which occurred on Wednesday evening. Officials of his party, the Pastef, whose authorities announced the dissolution at the end of July, relayed the message on social networks.
A deadly confrontation with power
Between Mr. Sonko and the power, several episodes of protest have resulted in deaths, since the opponent was implicated in 2021 in a morality case. President Macky Sall’s most restive opponent was given a six-month suspended prison sentence in May for defaming a minister, and two years in prison in June for “youth corruption” in the sex scandal. . Mr. Sonko cries conspiracy where the presidential camp accuses him of nurturing an insurrectionary project.
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Sonko’s deregistration in question
Mr. Sonko’s lawyers assure that he remains eligible despite his convictions. The Ministry of Justice said on the contrary a week ago that he was stripped of his electoral rights. A source close to the Ministry of the Interior, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of the subject, told AFP on Thursday that Mr. Sonko had been removed from the electoral lists following his conviction in June, and that this radiation had been notified to him. Mr. Sonko can appeal, she added. Such delisting renders Mr. Sonko ineligible. A spokesman for Mr. Sonko’s disbanded party, Ousseynou Ly, said he had no official confirmation that he had been served with the radiation.
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