Not always moral, but not guilty: Lamine Diack's defense calls for the court's indulgence - France 24

Paris (AFP)

An ethical fault, a lack of vigilance, but "not a crime": the defense of the former boss of world athletics Lamine Diack, tried in Paris for corruption on background of doping in Russia, asked Thursday the court of be forgiving and take into account his age.

The judgment will be rendered on September 16, 2020 at 1:30 p.m.

After pleading for release, one of the 87-year-old Senegalese's lawyers, Me William Bourdon, did not rule out the possibility that the judges would condemn him. So he asked them "not to make a decision that prevents him from dying with dignity, embraced by his family, on his native land".

The day before, financial prosecutors demanded four years in prison and a 500,000 euro fine, for corruption, money laundering in an organized gang and breach of trust against the former president of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), forbidden to leave the France since his arrest in November 2015.

Five years in prison and the same fine were required against his son Papa Massata Diack, known as PMD, former marketing advisor to the IAAF and key player in the case, who remained in Senegal and was tried in his absence.

- Usain Bolt -

After the final argument, Lamine Diack, dressed in a pale green boubou and wearing yellow slippers, went to the bar one last time to defend his record. He said he was hesitant to ask 100m legend Usain Bolt to testify to the IAAF's positive action in Jamaica.

The father, son and four other protagonists, against whom prison sentences have been requested, are on trial for their involvement in a network of international corruption on the background of blood doping.

Lamine Diack is notably prosecuted for ordering that disciplinary sanctions against Russian athletes suspected of having their biological passports be delayed, from the end of 2011, with the help of the former IAAF anti-doping official , Gabriel Dollé.

During the trial, the Senegalese justified his decision to save the "financial health" of the IAAF, which he said would have suffered from the scandal, in the midst of negotiations with a Russian sponsor and broadcaster in the run-up to the 2013 Moscow Worlds. .

"It is not ethical, we must admit things, but it does not fall under the criminal law," defended Simon Ndiaye, calling on the judges not to make his client "a scapegoat".

- Sebastien Coe targeted -

In the absence of three of the six defendants, including the former boss of the Russian athletics federation Valentin Balakhnitchev and the former trainer Alexei Melnikov, the trial did not lift some gray areas, notably on financial blackmail exercised with athletes so that they are not suspended.

One of the central parts of the accusation is a transfer of 300,000 euros received by the marathon runner Lilya Shobukhova from an account linked to Papa Massata Diack, as a reimbursement when it was finally suspended in 2014. Her lawyer, Me Antoine Beauquier , assured Thursday that it was a sum that his client owed to Valentin Balakhnitchev, while refuting the involvement of PMD in a racket of athletes. The prosecution assesses the amounts collected by the defendants at 3.45 million euros, but the money was not found and the Russian athletes were not heard.

During the trial, Lamine Diack also denied having asked the Russians for campaign funding to beat the outgoing Abdoulaye Wade during the 2012 presidential election in Senegal, contrary to his statements during the investigation.

His defense also denied his involvement in a breach of trust for the benefit of his son Papa Massata, through millions of euros diverted from sponsorship contracts.

Finally, Simon Ndiaye targeted the successor of Lamine Diack at the IAAF, the British Sebastian Coe, vice-president of the body at the material time. "Was he the prince who waited until the end of the king's reign to ascend the throne? Did this prince keep silent?" He launched, asking if he "should not be prosecuted" as well.

Lamine Diack and her son will not be done with French justice. Both are also being prosecuted in a second investigation for suspected corruption in the attribution of the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

© 2020 AFP