Senegal authorized on Monday April 6, the former Chadian president Hissène Habré to leave his prison in Dakar for two months, where he is detained for crimes against humanity. This prison must house the forty defendants in the context of the fight against the coronavirus. Senegal has registered 226 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and has two deaths.

Hissène Habré, 78, who ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990, was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 30, 2016 after an unprecedented trial in Dakar, after being convicted of crimes against the , rapes, executions, slavery and abduction. A Chadian commission of inquiry has estimated the number of victims of repression under the Habré regime at 40,000 dead.

Since his conviction, he has been serving his sentence in a penal establishment in Cap Manuel, at the tip of the peninsula where the Senegalese capital is located. On March 26, his lawyer, Mamadou Diawara, made a 60-day leave request, indicates an order of the judge of the enforcement of sentences at the Tribunal de grande instance hors classe de Dakar, of which AFP obtained a copy on Monday. evening.

"Particularly vulnerable"

The lawyer supported his request on the fact that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hissène Habré, because of his age, is "particularly vulnerable" to contamination in prison.

In his pleadings, the judge noted that the Cap Manuel prison was chosen by the Senegalese authorities, as part of the Covid-19 pandemic response strategy, to "receive all those newly placed under arrest warrant" and that they will be held there in solitary confinement for the duration of their quarantine, a precautionary measure to avoid possible contamination in prison.

The temporary exit of the former Chadian president "would automatically increase the accommodation capacity of the prison", while his presence "is likely to handicap the efforts deployed by the administration in this fight", underlines the judge, Boubacar Ndiaye Fall.

"Excuse"

From then on, he granted a "60-day temporary absence to Hissène Habré" and stipulated that he should enjoy it in his residence in Ouakam, a residential area of ​​Dakar, according to the order. "Hissène Habré will reintegrate the penitentiary establishment of Cap Manuel, immediately, at the expiration of the authorization to leave", also indicates the judge of the enforcement of sentences.

In a press release published on April 1, the Association of Victims of Crimes of the Hissène Habré regime had estimated that "the health crisis should not be used as an excuse for the early release of Hissène Habré". "Since his conviction, his supporters have been demanding his release for spurious reasons, such as false rumors of illness. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in new calls for his release," noted the victims' association.

However, according to her, "he is not in contact with other prisoners and therefore does not risk being contaminated because of the promiscuity that exists in many prisons". "It therefore seems sufficiently protected from the virus". "The presence of Hissène Habré in prison is therefore always justified, especially since he continues to refuse to compensate his victims", including "many who live in precariousness and do not have access to medical care", underlined l 'association.

With AFP

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