Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has been formally charged with fomenting insurrection and has been placed in custody.
His lawyer says Sonko had also been accused of stealing the mobile phone of a gendarme, whose vehicle had broken down near the politician’s home, and issuing a subversive message on social media.
Sonko, who was arrested at his home on Friday, has denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.
On Sunday he announced he was going on hunger strike and invited all political detainees to join him.
Sonko, who is very popular among unemployed youth, has undergone a meteoric political rise in the last few years.
In June, he was sentenced in absentia for two years in jail for immoral behavior towards individuals younger than 21 that sentencing sparked violent demonstrations.
