Doping and corruption: four years in prison required against Lamine Diack

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Following the trial of Lamine Diack, the former president of the IAAF, the international athletics federation and his 5 co-defendants, prosecuted for their alleged involvement in a system of corruption against a background of Russian doping. In this complex case, Lamine Diack and her son, Papa Massata Diack, are also accused of having appropriated millions of euros in revenue from the federation on sponsor contracts. After the pleadings of civil party Wednesday morning, the floor was in the afternoon at the financial prosecutor's office. Prosecutors notably demanded 4 years in prison against Lamine Diack.

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"  4 years is heavy,  " admitted the prosecutor, especially considering the 87 years of the accused, but "  Mr. Diack committed a huge offense of probity which caused worldwide damage to athletics  " a he argued, stressing that he had heard no regrets from Lamine Diack, "  just did he concede that he had mishandled the values ​​of sport, the integrity of which he had nevertheless violated for years, where the importance of sentencing heavily,  "insisted the magistrate who therefore required 4 years in prison, the ban on exercising responsibilities in sport and a fine of 500,000 euros. "  The maximum, given the considerable sums recovered from the back of the federation,  " he said.

Because in addition to the corruption accusations linked to the agreement made with the Russians to delay the sanctions against doped athletes in exchange for various counterparts, the Diack father and son are also prosecuted for abuse and concealment of breach of trust for having appropriate revenues from IAAF sponsors for an amount estimated at least by the prosecution at 30 million euros. An even heavier sentence, 5 years in prison and a 500,000 euro fine with an arrest warrant, was also requested against Papa Massata Diack, his son, a refugee in Dakar, a former marketing advisor of the federation "omnipresent" in the file and driven by the only lure of profit, according to the prosecutor. Unlike the 4 other accused prosecuted in the corruption section, he asked for sentences ranging from 2 years, including 1 suspended sentence, to 4 years in prison.

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