Court orders Dakar mayor’s trial to open next week: lawyer

Dakar, Senegal | AFP | A lawyer for Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, detained since March on corruption charges, on Friday said the prosecutor’s office had ordered his trial to begin next week, despite pending appeals.

Sall is accused of misappropriating 1.83 billion CFA francs ($2.85 million, 2.7 million euros) of city funds — a charge which he denies and which supporters say is politically motivated.

Lawyer Demba Cire Bathily told AFP on Friday that his client had received a “subpoena to appear on Thursday before the court… while certain procedures are still underway,” adding the “haste” of the justice system was “shocking”.

Mayor Sall, a leading opponent of President Macky Sall (no relation) was once seen as a contender for 2019 presidential elections, and a potential threat as the president is seeking re-election.

Khalifa Sall was elected to Senegal’s national assembly from prison in July, but his nine-month pre-trial detention has worn on after parliamentary immunity was lifted last month.