Without being cited by name, the Macky Sall and others “case” was on the menu of the meeting of the Council of Ministers on January 22, 2025. It was presented in the form of a “draft decree” relating to the “existing convention between the Government of the Republic of Senegal and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco on assistance to detained persons and the transfer of convicted persons, signed on December 17, 2004 in Rabat (Morocco). » The text was adopted. After the reinstallation of the High Court of Justice (HCJ) by the National Assembly, this is another milestone set by the Diomaye-Sonko duo in the perspective of a judgment by the former President of the Republic.
Since April 2024 and the defeat of his foal Amadou BA in the presidential election of March 24, 2024, Macky Sall has lived in exile in Marrakech with families and luggage. He doesn’t give the impression or the feeling of wanting to return to Senegal any time soon. Head of the list of his electoral coalition during the legislative elections on November 17, he had promised to come and campaign before retracting. His still loyal supporters had fended for themselves on the ground against the Pastef ruling party machine. There was no miracle.
By dusting off the bilateral convention cited above, the Senegalese executive is clearly opening a judicial case with high political intensity which will be a serious test of the solidity of the special relations which exist between Senegal and Morocco. In compliance with the procedures governing the treatment of “detained persons” and “the transfer of convicted persons”, the Senegalese authorities will work to obtain from the Moroccan authorities, initially, guarantees on the rigorous application of the signed Convention. between the two states. Dakar will thus probe Rabat to ensure that the political personality Macky Sall, welcomed as a distinguished guest by the Shereef Kingdom, will not be an object of harsh conflict between the two countries.
From this angle, it is reasonable to assume that Morocco would drag its feet if Senegal expressed through the appropriate diplomatic channels a request for extradition of the former head of state. The Kingdom would hesitate as much to protect its reputation as a welcoming country as, perhaps, to give Sall the time and opportunity to find another base without risk, as in the emirates and monarchies of the Arab-Persian Gulf.
-We can nevertheless think that if the project to have Macky Sall tried (without forgetting some of his companions who took the tangent before or after him) carries with it a real political and moral dimension from the point of view of the Senegalese authorities, political realism could end up prevailing. It would then manifest itself in the concrete impossibility – here and now – of repatriating a fugitive benefiting from political asylum from a country friendly to Senegal and of making this known to national public opinion. No one is bound to do the impossible, they say!
Senegal
