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Two years’ imprisonment has been demanded against three fathers who are accused of having brought their sons to Europe. According to one of the defendants’ lawyers, the prosecution is in a dynamic of deterrence, while many Senegalese have lost their lives and tried to reach the European continent by sea.
This deal caused a stir across the country. Doudou, a teenager originally from Mbour had a dream of becoming a professional football player.
In mid-October, his father, Mamadou Lamine Faye, gives 250,000 CFA francs, about 380 euros, to a smuggler. The latter has to drive the teenager secretly to Spain, more specifically to the Canary Islands. From there, another passerby must take over and send the young man to Italy. Because Doudou’s goal was to integrate a football training center in the country.
The latter, however, will never reach its destination. Doudou, however, aboard the canoe. According to some sources, he became ill. Passengers reportedly tried in vain to help him. His body was then reportedly thrown into the sea.
The fathers’ verdict was expected on December 8
In this case, three fathers are tried. They are accused of “endangering the lives of others” and “participating in migration smuggling”. The other two have found their children safe. They are now awaiting sentencing, scheduled for December 8.
During the trial on Tuesday in Mbour, Doudou’s father said he was “sorry” after organizing his son’s departure, said one of his lawyers contacted by our Dakar correspondent. Charlotte idrac. The father explained that he was thinking of a better future for his son. He was “sure” that Doudou would arrive safely, like other young people in the region, according to his defense. He had not told the teenager’s mother about this departure. He wanted to wait until he arrived, explains one of his lawyers.
Maître Assane Dioma Nidaye considers this father, like the other two defendants, to be a “victim”. He condemns a “bad prosecution strategy”. The defense of the 3 fathers appeals to the release.
We believe that it is necessary to attack especially those who are engaged in this traffic: the owners of the canoes and the captains who handle these canoes.
I’m Assane Dioma Nidaye, a lawyer for one of the fathers facing trial
The government wants to address the social pressure
On the part of the authorities, the government has initiated an appeal to families. For the government, one of the main reasons for illegal immigration is social pressure, the pressure of families on young people.
Last week, the Minister for Youth Affairs called for parents’ “sense of responsibility”. The prosecution against the three fathers therefore goes into a logic of “deterrent”. But for NGO Horizons sans frontières, “criminalization is not a solution”.
The caliph general of the Mourides fraternity, a very influential religious figure, sent a message to the candidates for departure in mid-November, declaring “taking a canoe while dropping the sea to go to Europe is an act of suicide banned by Islam.”
►Learn also: Big report – Canary Islands, the new Lampedusa?
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