Senegal's Supreme Court has upheld a defamation conviction against Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, validating a verdict which had prevented him from running for president in the country's last election.

The top court had already in January 2024 upheld Sonko's six-month suspended sentence for defamation and insults against a tourism minister.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that decision, rejecting Sonko's request for an appeal that was based on formal technicalities.

Sonko for his part said in a video on Tuesday evening that the matter was "not yet over" and added that "if I don't participate in an election, it would be of my own free will because nothing can prevent me from being a candidate."

Implicated in several other legal cases

However, according to multiple legal experts, the Supreme Court's latest decision definitively closes the case.

The minister had accused Sonko of defaming him in relation to his management of a community agriculture programme.

Sonko is implicated in several other legal cases, which he had denounced as plots aimed at removing him from the country's presidential election in March 2024.

In June 2023 he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for morally corrupting a young person.

Sonko was initially undisputed opposition candidate for president

He additionally served jail time on other charges, including calling for insurrection, conspiracy with terrorist groups and endangering state security.

The firebrand politician had been the undisputed candidate of the Pastef party ahead of the 2024 presidential election, generating a passionate following among Senegal's disaffected youth.

He struck a chord in particular with his pan-Africanist rhetoric and tough stance on former colonial power France.

His disqualification brought out of the shadows his more discreet deputy, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who went on to win the vote.

Faye appointed his mentor Sonko as prime minister.