Senegal's opposition politician Ousmane Sonko faces new charges

Senegal's public prosecutor announced on Saturday seven new charges against opposition politician Ousmane Sonko.

The public prosecutor added that the new charges are unrelated to the outcome of a moral corruption case that sparked deadly protests last month.

"He will be prosecuted for calling for insurrection, criminal conspiracy, undermining state security, plotting against state authority, acts and manoeuvres to compromise public security, to create serious political unrest, criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise, but also theft", said Senegal's public prosecutor, Abdoul Karim Diop.

On Friday, Sonko was arrested for allegedly stealing the phone of a police officer and issuing a subversive message on social media, according to the prosecutor.

"Ousmane Sonko himself admitted to having violently snatched the mobile phone of a female gendarme. And these facts are legally qualified as theft. There has been some ridicule on social networks about Ousmane Sonko being arrested for theft, but in reality it was the trigger for his arrest, which was imminent. As a result, he will also be prosecuted for theft", added the public prosecutor.

A former civil servant, Sonko rose to prominence in the 2019 presidential election, coming third.

Earlier this month, President Macky Sall announced that he would not be seeking a controversial third mandate.