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Senegal Opposition Leader Jailed Five Years for Graft

  • Date of Occurrence
    March 8, 2017
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The mayor of Senegal's capital, Dakar, has been placed in custody for allegedly embezzling public money.

A judge investigating $2.9m (£2.3m) in missing city funds has charged Khalifa Sall with fraud, criminal conspiracy and money laundering.

He denies any wrongdoing and says his arrest is politically motivated.

Mr Sall, who has been Dakar's mayor since 2009, has been widely considered a possible presidential contender for elections in 2019.

He is a member of the Socialist Party, part of the ruling coalition, but he is considered a maverick.

The mayor was arrested on Tuesday and spent the night in detention, along with at least five members of his staff.

Under Senegalese law, he will not be eligible for bail and will stay in jail until his trial.

This is the second high-profile corruption case in Senegal since President Macky Sall was elected into office in 2012 amid widespread popular discontent about corruption.

In 2015, Karim Wade, the son of the former President Abdoulaye Wade, was sentenced to six years in prison for illegally enriching himself.

A senior minister in his father's government, he had been in custody since 2013 and received a presidential pardon last year.

He now lives in exile in Qatar.

Just as in Karim Wade's case, supporters of the Dakar's mayor say he is a victim of a plot to undermine him.

"This arrest and detention [are] only to stop Khalifa Sall in his political ambitions," Mr Sall's lawyers said in a statement.

Actions Taken

On the 30th of March, 2018 Senegal's Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar, was Jailed for Fraud

One of Senegal's most popular politicians has been jailed on charges of fraud which his supporters say are politically motivated.

Khalifa Sall, mayor of the capital Dakar, was sentenced to five years for embezzling $3.4m (£2.4m).

His conviction bars him from next year's elections, when he had been expected to present a strong challenge to President Macky Sall - no relation.

Senegal is one of the most stable democracies in West Africa.

It is the only country on mainland West Africa never to have had a military coup.

It has seen two peaceful transfers of power following elections, most recently in 2012, when Macky Sall became president.

Khalifa Sall, 62, was arrested last year and successfully stood for parliament even though he was in detention at the time.

His parliamentary immunity was lifted so he could stand trial.

'More popular in prison'
The court heard that he had used fake receipts for rice and millet, and diverted the money for "political purposes", reports the AFP news agency.

"I feel shame for my country," deputy Dakar mayor Cheikh Gueye told Reuters.

"This decision is meant to prevent Khalifa Sall from putting his name forward as presidential candidate."

His lawyers have told the media they intend to appeal. However, they are unable to launch the appeal process immediately as Senegal's court clerks are currently on strike.

The BBC's Alex Duval Smith in Dakar says that, whether or not there has been political interference in the trial, it appears to have boosted Khalifa Sall's popularity.

Ever since his arrest, and during last October's parliamentary election process, the mayor's supporters have painted him as a victim of an elitist and skewed justice system, she says, adding that he is more popular in his prison cell than he was in city hall chambers.

Details
  • Date of Occurrence
    2017-03-08
  • Source
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39185782
Region
  • Senegal
Rights & Freedom Violated
  • Political Restrictions
Gender of Victim(s)
  • Male
Mode of Attacks
  • Forced Disappearances, Unlawful Arrests and Detention
  • Trials, Prosecution and Persecutions
  • Comments are closed.
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