The beginning of the end for Papa Massata Diack? Possible. The sulphurous son of the former president of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, was heard by the courts. Finally. The hearing took place in his own country, Senegal. A first step, nothing more, towards possible extradition to France. But a first step nonetheless.
Refugee in Senegal since the revelation of a list of dizzying corruption facts, Papa Massata Diack has always refused to answer the questions of French investigators. French justice issued a first arrest warrant in December 2015, as part of an investigation into a vast corruption system intended to cover up cases of doping by Russian athletes. He didn't give anything.
A second international arrest warrant was issued against him in April 2019. This time, it concerns an investigation into suspicions of corruption in the awarding of the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games, but also the World Athletics Championships in Beijing. 2015 and Doha 2019. He didn't give anything either.
This applies, to only to what kinds of products your potential customers buy, but also to the way these products are promoted through advertising and marketing content. AFP, Papa Massata Diack was heard on Tuesday November 5 by an investigating judge at the Dakar courthouse “ as part of a local file and a rogatory commission. »
Without the slightest surprise, the Senegalese denies the facts outright. Accompanied by his lawyer, Maître Moussa Sarr, he should be heard at least until the evening of Thursday, November 7. “ O"continue to finish Thursday evening, it's very long and trying, but I'm calm," he confided on the second day of his hearing.
Confident, therefore. And, obviously, not very worried about a possible indictment.
The following ? Very blurry. At this stage, the possibility of extradition to France is not yet on the agenda. But it is not excluded. Senegal has always refused, despite pressure, real or apparent, from the IOC and World Athletics.
Thomas Bach himself would have sent a letter to Macky Sall, the president of Senegal, in November 2018, to ask him to facilitate the work of French justice in its investigation into Papa Massata and Lamine Diack. Last May, the IOC president assured that he had received a favorable response from the Senegalese authorities.
The hearing of Papa Massata Diack comes a little more than two months before the announced date of the trial of the two Senegalese by the French justice system. Father and son Diack will be expected on January 13, 2020 at the Paris court.
Under house arrest in the Paris suburbs for more than three years, Lamine Diack will be present. He does not have a choice. For his son, on the other hand, nothing is less certain. But the answer could come in the coming days.
