DAKAR: Supporters of Senegalese opposition presidential election candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Sunday demanded his immediate release in the name of `equal treatment` under the constitution.

`All candidates must benefit from the constitutional principles of equal treatment,` said a statement from the Diomaye President coalition.

`That`s why the release without delay of candidate Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye is a popular demand and respectful of the Constitution,` the statement said.The coalition noted the situation also required the urgent release of jailed opposition Pastef party leader Ousmane Sonko.

The Constitutional Court rejecte d Sonko`s candidacy but accepted that of Faye, the party`s number two, along with about 20 others. Sonko has been in prison since July 2023 for calling for an uprising, associating with criminals linked to terrorism and harming state security.

Faye has been under preventive detention since April last year but has yet to face trial.-AFP