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Lamine Diack, former boss of world athletics, on trial for "corruption"

2020-06-08T17:04:57.671Z


The Senegalese, his son and four other defendants are suspected of having delayed the suspension of Russian athletes suspected of doping.


The case that the 32nd correctional chamber of the Paris court is responsible for examining, from Monday June 8 to Thursday June 18, promises to be particularly nebulous. Doping is mixed with suspicions of corruption, Russian athletics in the Senegalese presidential election and family ties to international sports bodies.

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At the heart of this case, which was to be tried last January but was the subject of a referral, the former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), renamed World Athletics since October 2019, its president from 1999 to 2015, the Senegalese Lamine Diack, and his son, Papa Massata Diack, who was a marketing consultant for the IAAF.

Notably prosecuted for active corruption and money laundering in an organized gang, Lamine and Papa Massata Diack face ten years in prison. Lamine Diack's lawyer, Simon N'Diaye, did not answer the Figaro's questions , but according to AFP, he intends to plead for release.

A two-part affair

"The starting point for this whole affair" dates back to 2014, when the agent of a Russian marathon runner, Lilya Shobukhova, revealed to an IAAF employee that her client had to pay 450,000 euros to the Russian Athletics Federation so as not to appear on a list of sportspeople suspected of doping. The case is growing and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has entrusted an independent agency with the task of carrying out an investigation.

The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) was seized in August 2015 and decided to open a judicial inquiry in October 2015. The three investigating magistrates, including the former anti-terrorist judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke, quickly realized that the case could actually be divided into two parts. The first deals with funds allegedly diverted from the IAAF by Lamine Diack in favor of Papa Massata Diack.

The second concerns alleged acts of corruption. Disciplinary proceedings against 23 Russian athletes suspected of doping were reportedly delayed in order to allow them to participate in competitions in exchange for bribes. All against the backdrop of the renewal of a major sponsorship contract with a Russian bank.

Three defendants absent at trial

In this second part, six men are indicted. Lamine Diack, his former legal adviser Me Habib Cissé and the former anti-doping manager at the IAAF, Dr Gabriel Dollé, were all placed under judicial supervision in November 2015 and are expected to be present throughout the trial.

On the other hand, Papa Massata Diack, Alexei Vladimirovich Melnikov, former national trainer for long distance races, and Valentin Vassiliévitch Balakhnitchev, ex-president of the Russian Athletics Federation and ex-treasurer of the IAAF, will be absent. Refugees in Senegal and Russia, their respective countries, they are the subject of international arrest warrants.

On the side of the civil parties are represented the AMA, the IAAF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as well as two athletes who believe to have been victims of this system of corruption: Hind Chahyd, Franco-Moroccan specialist in the 800 and 1500 meters , and Christelle Daunay, French specialist in long distance races.

"Russia funded"

During the investigation, Lamine Diack explained to the magistrates that part of the Russian funds had been used to support the opposition during the Senegalese presidential and legislative elections of 2012. “It was necessary in particular to finance the displacements of the young people in order to fight campaign. So I needed funding, ”he explains.

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“At that time, there were problems with the suspension of Russian athletes a few months from the world championships in Russia. I had to win Dakar, ” says Lamine Diack . “We got along. Russia has funded. (...) It was Papa Massata Diack who took care of the financing with Valentin Balakhnichev. ”

Was Vladimir Putin, with whom Lamine Diack had had relations since 2006, involved? "I have never met Mr. Poutine for this and I do not know if this information came back to him," replied the Senegalese, who would have told several people that the Russian leader had "helped" .

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-06-08

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