Wanted by the Senegalese authorities, the French lawyer Juan Branco was arrested after a long game of hide and seek with the police, said police officials in Senegal. Me Branco made a name for himself in Senegal by taking part in the defense of Ousmane Sonko, an opponent engaged since 2021 in a showdown with power and justice.
“The lawyer who came here to denigrate our institutions is in the hands of the BIP. Juan Branco, to name him, is in the hands of the BIP, the versatile intervention brigade, a police unit, Interior Minister Antoine Abdoulaye Félix Diome said during a debate in the National Assembly. . Me Branco was arrested in Mauritania, neighboring Senegal, and handed over on Saturday by the Mauritanian authorities in Dakar, his lawyers in Paris confirmed in a press release.
According to Senegalese media, Mr. Branco was arrested while traveling from Senegal, where he had entered a few days earlier, to Mauritania, aboard a canoe, dressed as a fisherman. Mr. Branco went to Mauritania “in order to escape the political persecution that had been promised to him in Senegal”, denounced his lawyers.
The proceedings against their colleague “are a pure and simple instrumentalization of the criminal code for political purposes” according to them. Me Branco has requested Spanish consular assistance, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.
Me Branco made a name for himself in Senegal by taking part in the defense of Ousmane Sonko, an opponent engaged since 2021 in a showdown with power and justice. The confrontation has given rise to several episodes of deadly violence for more than two years.
Mr. Branco attracted a lot of attention by announcing 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 experiencing its worst troubles in years.
The Senegalese prosecutor’s office announced on July 14 that it had opened a judicial investigation and requested an arrest warrant against Juan Branco based on his writings and words.
Me Branco caused a surprise on Sunday by unexpectedly bursting into a press conference of Senegalese lawyers for Ousmane Sonko in Dakar, two days after the arrest of the opponent. The latter has since been imprisoned on various charges, including calling for insurrection.
Me Branco had been turned back a few months earlier at the airport when he was trying to enter Senegal. Senegalese Foreign Minister Aïssata Tall Sall did not deny Thursday to the press reports that Me Branco had this time entered through the land border with Gambia. She indicated that the Senegalese authorities had raised the subject with their Gambian counterparts.
Me Branco had read during the press conference on Sunday a text which disconcerted a certain number of those present, then slipped away. He had since been wanted by the Senegalese police services. Former Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye said on social media that the lawyer had “ridiculed Senegal and exposed (its) security flaws”.
The Senegalese government on Thursday described Mr. Branco as a lawyer eager for publicity and fleeing 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”, said government spokesperson Abdou Karim Fofana. “If you have the courage to challenge a state, to challenge a nation, you have to face it,” he said.
