In Madagascar, the Court of Cassation rejected, on Friday August 26, the appeal of the main defendants in the Apollo 21 case, a case in which two Frenchmen, Paul Rafanoharana and Philippe François, were sentenced respectively to twenty and ten years in prison. forced labor for attempted coup and attempted assassination of the President of the Republic.
With our correspondent in Madagascar, Laetitia Bezain
The lawyers for the defendants had requested, last July, the cancellation of the convictions pronounced in December 2021 by the Criminal Court. This rejection of the Court of Cassation thus confirms the sentences of the two French people.
Looking worried as they entered the courtroom, the few relatives of the defendants came out stunned after the decision announced by the president: “ The Court dismisses the appeals “.
” It’s always consternation »
The defense lawyers who had presented the judges with a long defense brief, in which were presented a series of irregularities and procedural defects which, according to them, have marred the trial of their clients, evoke the possibility of an appeal in the interests of the law.
” It’s always consternation. We have the impression that we have not listened to all these flagrant violations of fundamental rights. The appeal in the interest of the law is the referral to the Minister of Justice because there is a violation of general principles of law. The Constitution has been flouted. The general principles of law have been flouted, in particular the right of defence, the presumption of innocence as well as the principle of separation of powers », indignant Maître Arlette Rafanomadio, lawyer of the Franco-Malagasy, Paul Rafanoharana.
The defense indicates to wait for the notification of the Court to know the reasons for the rejection.
A transfer of sentence in France?
The two French people can also request a transfer of sentence in France, explains Maître Raymond Chan-Fah, lawyer for Philippe François: “ We are going to try to have the judgment in our hands and from there, see how we, the lawyers, can act. There is this possibility of appealing in the interest of the law, but perhaps we will also bring into play the 1973 cooperation agreement which possibly provides for the extradition of French citizens to their country of origin. This is yet another step but in any case, it will surely be done with French lawyers. »
The appeal, in the interest of the law, does not prevent extradition, specifies the defense. For now, the two men are serving their sentences.on the outskirts of the Malagasy capital, in the high security prison of Tsiafahy.
In a press release published on Friday August 26, the support committee “For a return of Philippe François” indicates that “ it is through the rapid implementation of the transfer procedure in France […] that the French government can and must protect Philippe François “. For this committee, the French authorities have so far “ failed in the defense of the fundamental rights of a Frenchman arbitrarily detained and unjustly sentenced abroad »