Imprisoned Senegalese opposition figure Ousmane Sonko says he has resumed a hunger strike he called off last month ahead of elections next year.

Sonko, 49, has accused President Macky Sall of attempting to prevent him from running in the 2024 presidential elections, charges Sall, who was elected in 2012 and will not run in the elections, denies.

He was jailed in July on charges including fomenting insurrection, criminal association in connection with a terrorist enterprise and undermining state security over incidents dating back to 2021.

Sonko had been engaged in a fierce tussle with the state for more than two years and says authorities are trying to torpedo his political career.

He said he resumed the hunger strike on Tuesday to show “solidarity” with other activists “unjustly arrested for expressing their political opinions”, and who are sometimes deprived of “all contact with their loved ones”.

“We can only resort to the means of resistance that our current situation allows. That’s why I’ve decided to resume my hunger strike,” he said on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter.

One of his lawyers also confirmed that Sonko had resumed his hunger strike.