Arrested, extradited, imprisoned, charged and, finally, gone again. The Franco-Spanish lawyer Juan Branco boarded an Air Senegal evening flight from Dakar to Paris on Monday, August 7. Subject to an international arrest warrant issued by Senegal, the lawyer, who advises the regime’s main opponent Ousmane Sonko – himself prosecuted for, among other charges, calls to insurrection – had entered the country illegally, according to Justice Minister Ismaila Madior Fall.
Branco had been arrested on Saturday, August 5, by the Mauritanian authorities, who handed him over to their Senegalese counterparts as he attempted to leave the country via Mauritania. Detained in Dakar’s Reubeuss prison on Saturday night, he was charged with terrorism, conspiracy, spreading false news, acts and maneuvers likely to compromise public security or cause serious political unrest, illegal sojourn and contempt of court, according to his lawyers.
On Monday morning, the author of Crépuscule ("Dusk") was brought before the examining magistrate. He was charged, but granted provisional release and placed under judicial supervision. "The only restriction is that he must not comment on the current case," said Abdoulaye Tall, his lawyer in Senegal.
"He’s not a Senegalese national, he has his family, his profession. We have very serious judicial cooperation agreements with France, so there was no reason to keep him in detention," explained the justice minister at a press conference on Monday, adding that the judicial investigation was still underway and that he could be tried as soon as it was completed. "Judicial cooperation means that he can, for example, serve this possible sentence in France," the minister added.
The affair has taken on an unexpected dimension in Senegal, even reaching the Assemblée Nationale. On Saturday, August 5, the minister of the interior confirmed the arrest of the French-Spanish lawyer in the midst of parliamentary debates on amending the electoral code. Since then, his release has been the subject of controversy.
"This measure is a mockery of our country’s honor and dignity. Branco has taunted us. He came here and exploited Ousmane Sonko’s notoriety to sell himself. He insulted the magistrates, disrespected our institutions. He snubbed the investigators and the examining magistrate by refusing to answer their questions," Mame Adama Guèye, former president of the Senegalese Bar Association, said during an interview on iRadio.
Criticism has been worsened by the fact that several people have been arrested in Senegal in recent days, accused of having organized Branco’s trip and accommodation in a Dakar hotel. "Branco, the Frenchman, the main accused party, was released less than 72 hours after his arrest. His alleged Senegalese accomplices, a lawyer and a mayor, have been kept in prison without further trial. Who can explain this justice to me?" tweeted Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, president of the political platform Avenir Senegaal Bi Ñu Begg ("The Senegal We Want") and one of the leaders of the Yewwi Askan Wi opposition coalition.
You have 37.91% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.