This is the other fight of Senegalese lawyers since the final of the last African Cup of Nations: the release of the 18 supporters sentenced to a prison sentence of three months to one year for having taken part in the incidents in the stands, when a penalty for Morocco had been awarded. As with the name of the winner, the matter is far from over since the Senegalese saw their sentences confirmed on appeal on Monday.
The prosecution of the Rabat Court of Appeal had requested to increase the sentences handed down at first instance against the 18 accused. The supporters, detained since the final on January 18, were prosecuted for “hooliganism”, an accusation including acts of violence particularly against the police, damage to sports equipment, invasion of the pitch and throwing projectiles.
At first instance, nine of them were sentenced to one year in prison with a fine of 5,000 dirhams (around 460 euros), six others to six months and a fine of 2,000 dirhams (180 euros) and the last three to three months and a fine of 1,000 dirhams (90 euros).
A Frenchman of Algerian origin, tried for having thrown a bottle of water, was also given a three-month prison sentence and a fine of 1,000 dirhams. Defendants sentenced to three months’ imprisonment are free from next Saturday.
No need for video, “the whole world saw”
In court, the defendants proclaimed their innocence. They explained – most of them in Wolof, translated into French and then into Arabic – that they had been forced to go down onto the stadium pitch because of a crowd movement or to escape “spitting and throwing projectiles”, and not to protest against an arbitration decision.
Saying he “takes note” of the appeal verdict, Me Patrick Kabou, who defended a good number of Senegalese people, told AFP that “the prosecution was unable to provide any proof” of these accusations. During the hearing, defense lawyer Naïma El Guellaf requested the broadcast of videos of the incidents, on which the prosecution relied, to check whether the accused could be identified.
Our file on the CAN
The prosecution requested the rejection of this request, citing flagrante delicto. “The whole world saw these distressing images live,” he argued. “There were errors, the people involved in what happened are in Senegal” and “are not present here,” said Mr. Kabou. Senegal appealed at the end of March before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) based in Lausanne (Switzerland) against the decision on March 17 of the African Confederation (CAF) to award the CAN 2025 to Morocco on the green carpet.
Leave a Reply