Dead bodies sprawled on the ground, feet, hands or mouths shattered, civilians dragged on the ground or a child used as a human shield by the security forces. The images projected during the press conference given by Juan Branco on the morning of Thursday June 22 in Paris were intended to be explicit. For a little over half an hour, in front of an audience mainly made up of supporters of Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko, the French lawyer and pamphleteer presented what he considers “evidence of the abuses of the ruling regime of Senegal against the population”, over the period between March 2021 and March 2023.
President Macky Sall and his Minister of the Interior, Antoine Félix Diome, as well as “ 112 suspects on the whole chain of command that we have reconstructed”, are accused of commission and complicity in the commission of “crimes against humanity”. Juan Branco argues that the acts were committed “as part of a general and systematic attack against a civilian population” which would have caused 50 deaths since March 2021, “in a context where the discovery of gas and oil resources in this territory has created a desire to stay in power at all costs”.
The day before, the man who presents himself not only as Ousmane Sonko’s lawyer but also that of many Senegalese and Franco-Senegalese civil parties, had claimed to have filed a complaint in France and submitted a request for an investigation to the Criminal Court. (CPI), based on 710 “evidence”.
“Nervises”
“Citizens, civil servants, people working in all the administrations of the country brought us evidence, documents, contracts, videos and testimonies which enabled us to establish the existence of 60 crimes of murder, considered crimes against humanity, of several thousand crimes of imprisonment in violation of international legal standards, of several thousand attacks on life and injuries, and finally of acts of persecution and other inhumane acts”he said in a firm tone.
Juan Branco, who joined the defense of Ousmane Sonko in the spring but was unable to attend the trials against the opponent, assures that Marième Faye Sall, the first lady, Amadou Sall, the president’s son, and others close to the Senegalese leader would be involved in the recruitment and financing of “nerves”, these armed civilians alongside the police, during the riots which followed the sentencing to two years in prison of the leader of the African Patriots of Senegal for work, ethics and fraternity (Pastef), at the beginning of June, for “youth corruption”. Clashes that left at least 16 dead according to the authorities, 23 according to the NGO Amnesty International.
You have 55.03% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.