DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal’s jailed opposition chief Ousmane Sonko, who has been on a starvation strike in jail to protest prison prices in opposition to him, was hospitalized Sunday, his social gathering mentioned.

Sonko was imprisoned final week upfront of prison proceedings in opposition to him on prices of calling for rebellion, conspiracy in opposition to the state and different prices.

The cause for his hospitalization on the Main Hospital in downtown Dakar was not instantly clear. “Prior to his imprisonment, he was in good health and had no known illnesses,” mentioned the assertion from Sonko’s now-dissolved Patriots of Senegal (PASTEF) social gathering.

Sonko introduced July 30 on the platform X, previously often called Twitter, that he would begin his starvation strike. The announcement got here a day earlier than a choose within the capital of Dakar ordered his imprisonment.

The newest prices in opposition to Sonko got here weeks after a choose convicted him in a separate case of corrupting youth and sentenced him to 2 years in jail, which ignited lethal protests throughout the nation. Last week, no less than 4 folks died and several other have been injured in recent protests after Sonko was detained in a jail simply outdoors Dakar.

Sonko positioned third in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and is common with the nation’s youth. His supporters keep the fees in opposition to him are a part of a authorities effort to derail his candidacy within the 2024 presidential election.

Sonko’s well being emergency comes the day after his lawyer, Juan Branco, was arrested in Mauritania and extradited to Senegal, the place he's in a Dakar jail, in accordance with Branco’s lawyer, Robin Bindard.

Bindard mentioned Sunday that Branco is being held for alleged dissemination of false info, conspiracy in opposition to the state and different prices.

“The mission of a lawyer… is sacred, and you can’t reproach a lawyer for defending his client,” mentioned Bindard.

Interior Minister Antoine Felix Diome introduced Branco’s arrest to applause in a National Assembly assembly Saturday.

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Associated Press author Babacar Dione contributed to this report.

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