Media Wire Express Correspondent
Jailed Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has submitted his candidacy to contest a February presidential election with the constitutional council despite the state’s refusal to provide him the necessary documents.
Sonko’s back-up Bassirou Diomaye Faye has also filed to run, Ousseynou Ly, an official in their dissolved party Pastef said.
Like other candidates, Sonko had time until December 26 to submit his candidacy and show he has collected enough signatures.
Last week, the national entity that runs elections in Senegal, did not provide Sonko’s representative with the documents needed to file. His lawyers then said they would file anyway, hoping the justice system would be more receptive.
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.
A court in the southern town of Ziguinchor where his is the mayor, had ruled last month that Sonko should be reinstated in the voter roll and sponsorship sheets for the presidential election be handed to him, enabling him to run in the vote.
