2023-08-08 22:45:00
BRANCO – Released from prison and expelled from Senegal, lawyer Juan Branco returned to France on Tuesday August 8, around 9 a.m. Expected by the press at Paris Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, the Franco-Spanish raised his fist on arrival and did not hold a speech before welcoming warm hugs from his family. (read the rest of the article after the video)
Juan Branco delivered his first statements later at the end of the day, at 6 p.m., during a press conference organized in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. This one, reserved for journalists, was broadcast live on social networks.
Not an arrest, but a kidnapping
On August 5, while en route to the capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott, Juan Branco was “removed by hooded men”, who handed him over to other men “without uniforms in des pick-up”, “without respecting fundamental rights”.
While thus sweeping away the idea of an arrest, initially communicated by the Senegalese authorities, the lawyer describes an act made possible because of a “feeling of impunity of the power in place”within a region “which we have militarized”.
Me Branco then wanted to return to France after having made a surprise visit during a conference dedicated to the defense of Ousmane Sonko, in Dakar, on Sunday July 30. Engaged by his side since 2021, he advises the defense of this political opponent to Senegalese President Macky Sall.
According to him, “pretrial detention” of his client since July 28, following a two-year prison sentence for “youth corruption”, was decided by the power in place. An imprisonment whose sole purpose is to “prevent him from showing up” in the next elections scheduled in six months in Senegal.
The former leader of the “African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity” (PASTEF) party is “persecuted for denouncing corruption” in his country. Sonko is very weak from a hunger strike and suffers from kidney failure, again according to Branco.
He heard the prison “roar”
The lawyer first described, solemnly, the fate of other prisoners, of whom he was able to observe on site the conditions of detention in Dakar, in a remand center in the center of the capital, Reubeuss. According to him, some of them are “locked up without the right to sleep”victims of “tortures” visible on their bodies and waiting “without trial for months”, while being “stacked in inhumane conditions”.
Before being placed under judicial control yesterday, Juan Branco was charged last Sunday by the Senegalese judge in charge of the case for “attack, conspiracy, dissemination of false news, acts and maneuvers likely to compromise public security or cause serious political disturbances”, then imprisoned.
On his release from prison, before being placed under judicial control, then expelled from Senegal to France, Branco heard with emotion “the prison roar” during its passage.
He repeatedly insisted on his “chance” and his “extraordinary privilege” having “The right to express oneself” in front of the French press and supported a certain “solidarity” et “universality of struggles”. The Franco-Spanish wanted to make a connection between “aspirations” French and Senegalese peoples.
“France must stand on the side of the people, it must have this courage if it wants to maintain a link” with Africa, he said. Branco wants “continue this fight for all those who remain deprived of their freedom” et “ensure a democratic transition in Senegal”.
Protecting a certain idea of politics
Juan Branco says he does not do this to lead “an ideological struggle” but for “protect through” Ousmane Sonko’s struggle in his country, “this idea of politics, to create links and give hope”.
As Me Saïd Larifou declared at his side during the press conference, Juan Branco is the “first to seize international bodies to denounce crimes against humanity” alleged “committed in Senegal”.
According to the Reunionese lawyer, “There are Ousmane Sonko who are waking up in all African countries.”
Juan Branco said he had “the fate of Assange in mind“, “very often”having quickly become aware of the “trap” which was closing in on him. In his eyes, he owes his release to the strong mobilization of his relatives and supporters.
The lawyer still hopes for an exit from the deadly political showdown in Senegal, against a backdrop of partisan warfare, thanks to “a change of attitude”, calling for a behavior rid of any belligerent behavior on the part of the authorities in place.
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