The Dakar prosecutor's office requested Wednesday, March 17 before a special criminal chamber five years in prison against a young Frenchman arrested in Senegal and accused of wanting to join jihadists in combat.
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It was a rare trial in a country considered to be an island of stability relatively untouched by jihadist actions, but concerned about the ongoing spread among its Sahelian neighbors.
President Macky Sall said in February that his country and others in West Africa must prepare for a jihadist surge towards the Atlantic from the Sahel.
This trial before a special chamber is the first in a series of hearings due to take place in the coming weeks, including that of Malians suspected of having been in contact with the perpetrators or the organizers of the Grand-Bassam attack. , which killed 19 people, including European nationals, in 2016 in Côte d'Ivoire.
Mamadou Diaou appeared for his part on Wednesday, accused of criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise and of advocating terrorism.
This 22-year-old born in Saint-Brieuc (western France) and holder of dual Franco-Malian nationality according to his lawyer was arrested in August 2016 when he got off the plane because he was reported as potentially dangerous by a base of data safe.
Five years in prison for apology required
The security services had found a message on his cell phone informing his parents that he was leaving to join the jihadist ranks to fight.
They had also found violent content there.
He is accused of having been in contact with a certain Ibrahima Ndiaye who allegedly offered to take him to Libya, Syria or Iraq.
He admitted to having participated on an encrypted messaging in the exchanges of a group with violent content, but invoked curiosity.
He said he went to Senegal at the invitation of Ibrahima Ndiaye for tourism.
His lawyer Me Gorgui Gueye pleaded for release by declaring that "
all he said were conjectures, intellectual constructions, which are not supported by any material element
".
The farewell message prepared for his family, "
he never sent it,
" he said.
The prosecutor demanded five years in prison and a fine of one million CFA francs (about 1,500 euros) for the apology, citing questions of law not to retain the criminal association.
The verdict was reserved as of April 29.