Leading Senegal MP Arrested After Protesting Ally’s Fraud Sentence

-

Supporters of Dakar’s mayor Khalifa Sall react following his sentencing for fraud on March 30, 2018, outside of the courtroom audience chamber in Dakar.  SEYLLOU / AFP
Prominent Senegalese lawmaker, Barthelemy Dias, has been arrested for insulting the judiciary after close ally Khalifa Sall was jailed for fraud, his lawyer said Saturday.
Dias is a strong supporter of Sall, the popular Dakar mayor who was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison, a punishment that will rule him out of a presidential election due next February.
The dissident Socialist Party MP was arrested after he made disparaging remarks about the judges in the Sall case. Dias remained in detention on Saturday, his lawyer El Hadji Diouf said.
Supporters of the mayor, accused of misappropriating the equivalent of $2.8 million (2.7 million euros) in public funds, had protested loudly in the packed courtroom at the verdict against him.
“Such comments constitute an intolerable attack on the honour of the magistrates concerned and on the dignity of the entire judiciary,” the Union of Senegalese Magistrates said in a statement, without elaborating on what Dias had actually said.
Both Dias and Sall were banned from the Socialist party in December for alleged violence and disciplinary offences.
Sall, 62, had denied the charges against him, but Friday’s verdict will delay a growing challenge against incumbent President Macky Sall, no relation.
AFP

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why we accepted list of APC candidates from Rivers- INEC

-
Image
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that it collected the list of candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State because there was no court order or judgment barring it from doing so. The Supreme Court had on October 22, 2018, descended on the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal for granting an application in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in respect of the conduct of the party’s congresses in the state. A five-man panel of the Supreme Court, in its unanimous judgment, held that the Court of Appeal committed “a sacrilegious exercise of discretion” by favouring the APC in its June 21, 2018, judgment despite the party’s decision to conduct its congresses in Rivers State in disobedience of subsisting orders of the court. The Supreme Court faulted the action of the APC, and described the conduct of the party’s ward, local government and state congresses of May 19, 20 and 21, 2018, respectively, in River
Read more

Arewa Consultative Forum Endorses Buhari For Second Term

-
Image
President Muhammadu Buhari speaks during a meeting at the State House in Abuja. The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for second term ahead of the presidential election scheduled to hold on Saturday. The forum announced its support for the President in a statement by its acting Chairman, Musa Kwande, on Tuesday. It noted that it carefully studied the antecedents of major presidential candidates, the manifestoes and policy documents of their parties, alongside the need for social, political and economic stability in the country. The ACF explained that this made it come to the conclusion that President Buhari deserved a second term to consolidate on his achievements. It added that its stand was informed by the strides taken by the Buhari administration to improve and reposition the nation economically. Some of the steps highlighted by the forum include the multi-billion Dollar Mambilla hydropower project, the exploration of oil in Gon
Read more

BREAKING: Court Grants Ex-SGF Babachir Lawal, Two Others Bail

-
Image
An Abuja High Court has granted bail to the former Secretary-General of the Federation,  Babachir  Lawal and two others. The court on Wednesday granted them bail in the sum of N50m each with one surety. The sureties must be residents within the jurisdiction of the court; they must possess titles to lands within the jurisdiction of the court, show evidence of payment of tax for the past three years. The court further noted that each of the defendants is to deposit their international passport with the court pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions and are to remain in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mr Babachir is being accused of diverting funds meant for the clearing of evasive plants in the troubled northeast. Next trial has been fixed for March 18, 2019.
Read more