FROM: PressAfrik
by Salif SAKHANOKHO 13 Mars 2023 - 20:01
The legal team of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko have released a statement saying that they have noted, with great "indignation" and "dismay", that during a program broadcast on March 12, 2023 on Sud FM, the Minister of Justice, Ismaila Madior Fall, asserted that presidential candidate Sonko had "no right to defame with impunity".
In a press release, Lawyer Bamba Cissé said, on behalf of the legal team, that they believe that “this clear and unequivocal position taken by the justice minister, prior to judgement in the case, can clearly influence public opinion on this affair. Thus the statement undermines the integrity of the judicial procedure, neutrality, and the principles of the presumption of innocence inherent in an even-handed and equitable distribution of Justice.
The defence team stresses the urgent need to ensure a "fair" and impartial trial for the defendant who is main opponent of the current sitting President with less than a year to go before the February 2024 presidential elections.
The defense lawyers "vigorously" denounced this umpteenth departure from legal impartiality which, they noted, will not in itself have legal consequences.
