It was on Monday 8 June 2020 that the trial of Lamine Diack, former Senegalese boss of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) and five other defendants, opened at the Paris Correctional Court. He proclaims his announcement.
Lamine Diack is being prosecuted for breach of trust and organized gang money laundering, specifically on alleged involvement in a system of corruption designed to protect Russian athletes doped to compete.He is accused of having received millions of euros in bribes to close his eyes, an envelope estimated at 3.45 million euros.
Five other people, including his son Papa Massata Diack, who was a former IAAF adviser, are also implicated in this case.
On the stand for the first day, 78-year-old Gabriel Dollé, former head of anti-doping at the International Athletics Federation, recounts: According to him, Lamine Diack had asked him in 2011 to delay sanctions against Russian athletes who were then suspected of doping. His canvasser had told him that the federation’s accounts were in the red and that getting Russian sponsors was necessary and urgent or even crucial. They were a few months away from the 2012 Olympics.
The former leader is 87 years old and arrived at the hearing with his face masked but standing. The hearings will last six days. He’s facing ten years in prison. The prosecution specifically accuses him of concealing allegations of doping on Russian athletes in exchange for a financial envelope. Lamine Diack must be heard by the judges tomorrow.
Lamine Diack’s arrival in court: Images Iknews:
