Africa press review
In the spotlight: the sword in the balance of the “Astou Sokhna” affair
Audio 03:36
The "Astou Sokhna" case has been the source of several demonstrations demanding justice for the victim, as here in Dakar on April 23, 2022. AFP - CARMEN ABD ALI
By: Norbert Navarro
3 mins
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One year in prison, including one month firm, required against four midwives in the trial of the so-called Astou Sokhna case, in Senegal... It is in Louga (north of Dakar, the capital) that The trial at first instance of six midwives in the case of this 9-month pregnant woman, who died in childbirth at the regional hospital on April 1, was concluded this night.
In question, alleged negligence on the part of maternity staff.
As the
Seneplus
site reports , the public prosecutor has indeed requested a one-year sentence, including one month's imprisonment, for four of the six midwives judged "
for failure to assist a person in danger
".
This online newspaper also reports that the public prosecutor "
on the other hand, asked for release in favor of the two other midwives implicated in this case.
They appeared free unlike their four colleagues placed under arrest warrant since April 19,
”adds
Seneplus
.
Will Faure be strong enough?
This question in the crisis between Mali and ECOWAS: can Togo play the mediator?
What credit can the sub-regional organization give to its president Faure Gnassingbé in the role of facilitator?
Question posed in these terms by the Burkinabè daily Wakat Sera: “
Faure Gnassingbé as a firefighter or as a doctor after death?
".
Emphasizing the fact that today, "
the Togolese President, despite his relative young age, is the dean of the heads of state in office in West Africa
", as well as the asset of "
sharing the same French language as a negotiating tool
” between him and the Malian transitional authorities, this Ouagalais newspaper is anything but sure that Faure is “
strong enough to bring back to normal positions as radicalized as those of Mali, France, Europe and ECOWAS
”.
Reason why
Wakat Sera
advises the Togolese president to use "
an unparalleled diplomacy to bring his counterparts back to better feelings, by reminding them that egos no longer have their place in this situation which is going to rot
" .
In any case, this recourse to a mediator at a time when the direct dialogue between Bamako and ECOWAS is far from being broken
,
underlines the daily
Le Pays
,
in Burkina Faso
.
“
What is blocking the Malian authorities from having recourse to a facilitator, in the person of the Togolese head of state
”
,
he wonders?
While waiting to have the answer to this question, it is the option of an underground diplomacy which suspects a reality much more difficult than Bamako seems to want to admit, in connection with the economic embargo which puts Mali in the edge of apoplexy.
"
Like what
, says
Le Pays
,
you can't hide the sun with a finger
".
Yasmina Ouégnin throws a stone in the backwater of the RHDP
In Côte d'Ivoire, Yasmina Ouégnin throws a stone into the pond, this morning, by estimating that "
the PDCI did not need to form an alliance with the RHDP
".
This is what the independent daily
L'Inter points out on the front page.
Taking a clear position against the now ex-alliance between the head of state, Alassane Ouattara and the president of his party, the PDCI - and who is none other than the former head of state, Henri Konan Bédié - Yasmina Ouégnin told this other independent Ivorian newspaper,
Soir Info
, that the PDCI "
did not need to make an alliance with the RHDP, the RDR and others
" (it being specified that the RDR is the original party of Alassane Ouattara), being also reminded that this ex-alliance known as the RHDP had formed a common front, in the second round of the 2010 presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire, against the then President of the Republic, Laurent Gbagbo.
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