DAKAR (Reuters) – A West African regional court on Friday backed the government of Senegal in a legal battle with jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who had filed a case claming the state violated his human rights.
Sonko, 49, has faced a flurry of court cases over the past two years for charges including libel and rape, which he denies.
He was arrested in July for insurrection, the government dissolved his party, and he has been struck off the electoral roll, ruling him out of a presidential election next February.
Now a court of the West African political bloc ECOWAS has rejected Sonko’s claim that the state has treated him unfairly.
“The court ruled that none of Ousmane Sonko’s rights had been violated and dismissed his requests,” said his lawyer Ciré Clédor Ly.
Sonko’s woes have become a flashpoint in Senegal, triggering rioting this year in which at least 16 people died – the worst unrest in decades in the largely peaceful West African country.
His supporters say the charges are politically motivated and are part of President Macky Sall’s serial targeting of political opponents, which Sall denies. Sonko has gone on hunger strikes in protest and has been admitted to hospital on occasion.
Last month, a tribunal in the southern city of Ziguinchor, where Sonko is mayor, ordered the electoral commission to put him back on the voter roll. Senegal’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on this later on Friday.
(Reporting by Ngouda Dione; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Edward McAllister and Angus MacSwan)
