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Senegal has decided to suspend all extraditions to France, Dakar’s justice minister said, accusing Paris of refusing to hand over two Senegalese citizens to the West African country.
The row comes after the French courts postponed a decision last month on whether to return a Senegalese press baron critical of the Senegalese government, and as Dakar seeks the extradition of a businessman under investigation for financial irregularities.
“We have two Senegalese nationals in France. France, up to now, has not returned them to Senegal, which has provided all the justifications and continues to request their extradition,” Justice Minister Yassine Fall told parliament on Thursday, without specifying who the two people were.
As a result of France’s non-cooperation, Senegal will refuse to extradite 12 people wanted by France “until France responds favourably to what we have requested”, Fall said.
“If these people are guilty of crimes, we arrest them. We do not do as France does. We do not let them remain free,” the minister added.
A French appeals court in late November asked Dakar for details on the country’s request to extradite media magnate and government critic Madiambal Diagne, who fled to France in late September and is subject to a Senegalese arrest warrant over alleged financial irregularities.
Two journalists were arrested in Senegal in October after conducting separate interviews with Diagne, sparking an outcry among press groups and the political class, which called the detentions a severe attack on freedom of speech. Both were freed within the week.
Since toppling ex-president Macky Sall in 2024, considered one of France’s closest allies in West Africa, the Senegalese government has taken a more critical stance towards Paris, without completely turning its back on its former colonial ruler.
