In Senegal, a political and judicial earthquake is playing out, and the tremors are felt in France. Sunday morning, the media Franco-Spanish lawyer Juan Branco, who defends the opponent in power Ousmane Sonko, was arrested and imprisoned in Dakar. The 30-year-old is charged in particular with an attack, and risks life imprisonment. What happened ? How was Juan Branco arrested? How do his lawyers and his French supporters react? 20 minutes takes stock of the case, while the French counsel of the lawyer just announced his release this Monday, and his expulsion to France.
Why is Juan Branco linked to Senegal?
Juan Branco is a Franco-Spanish lawyer who enjoyed bookstore success in France with Dusk, his pamphlet hostile to Emmanuel Macron. In Senegal, the 30-year-old made a name for himself by taking part in the defense of Ousmane Sonko, an opponent engaged since 2021 in a showdown with power and justice which has given rise to several episodes of deadly violence. He particularly drew attention when he announced a complaint in France and a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against President Macky Sall for crimes against humanity in June, when the country had just experienced its worst trouble for years. This complaint followed the conviction of Ousmane Sonko for “youth corruption”. A conviction that led to riots in Senegal.
Why was Juan Branco arrested?
Banned from Senegal [il a été refoulé à la frontière en mars dernier], the one who is also Piotr Pavlenski’s lawyer nevertheless made a surprise appearance on Sunday July 30 in Dakar, in the middle of a press conference by his Senegalese colleagues, defenders of Ousmane Sonko. “Mr. Public Prosecutor, we came to tell you that we were not afraid (…). Ousmane Sonko, bearer of the hope of the great people of the underprivileged, was arrested”, commented Juan Branco during of a speech of ten minutes, two days after the arrest of the opponent at the end of July. And quickly evacuate the room. For good reason: fifteen days before he spoke, the Senegalese justice had issued an international arrest warrant for crimes and misdemeanors against the French council.
How was the lawyer arrested and imprisoned?
Entered Senegalese territory illegally by land after landing in The Gambia, according to newspaper information The world, Juan Branco was tracked down by the authorities for a week. The police even inspected the home of Ousmane Sonko. In vain.
The trace of the lawyer was finally found on Saturday in neighboring Mauritania. Juan Branco claims to have been “kidnapped” about 100 kilometers from Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, by hooded men wearing no distinctive sign. According to Branco’s team of French lawyers, the fugitive, dressed as a fisherman, was apprehended while he was on board a boat and wanted to contact the Mauritanian authorities.
While the authorities had viewed his illegal entry into the country as a snub, the arrest of Juan Branco was announced by Antoine Félix Abdoulaye Diome, Senegalese Minister of the Interior, who presented him as “the lawyer who was come here to denigrate our institutions”.
What did Juan Branco risk?
Before the Senegalese courts, the lawyer faced a multitude of charges: attack, conspiracy, dissemination of false news, acts and maneuvers likely to compromise public security or cause serious political disturbances, irregular stay and contempt. to magistrate. The assassination charge made him incur life imprisonment.
Placed in detention Sunday morning in a prison in the center of Dakar, Juan Branco had decided to remain silent, had refused to be represented, as well as to drink and eat.
Juan Branco soon back in France?
Juan Branco, charged and imprisoned on Sunday in Dakar, was placed on Monday under judicial control and is in the process of being expelled to France, said one of his lawyers and a senior official at the Senegalese Ministry of Justice. “He was taken out of prison this morning and presented to the judge who notified him of his placement under judicial supervision, declared Mes Robin Binsard and Yassine Bouzrou, his lawyers in Paris. He is in a police station to be taken to the airport. He is exhausted but relieved to be released. »
The information was confirmed by a senior source from the Ministry of Justice.
What were the reactions?
Before his release, a petition demanding the lawyer’s release gathered more than 16,000 signatures. Former candidate under the banner of LFI, Juan Branco was supported on X (ex-Twitter) by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who had denounced his imprisonment, believing that “the authoritarian drift of (Senegalese) power no longer has any restraint”.
For its part, the Senegalese government has described Juan Branco as a lawyer hungry for publicity and fleeing from his responsibilities. “Senegal should not be the sounding board for a lawyer who is in need of recognition in his country” and who “dreams of Victor Hugo, underlined government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana. If you have the courage to challenge a State, to challenge a nation, you must face up. »