Following the political interpretations surrounding the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal of Paris, which granted Ibrahima Aboukhalil, alias Bourgi “Bibo”, the services of the Minister of Finance and Budget, Mamadou Moustapha Bâ, issued a statement this Sunday, July 23, 2023 to clarify this. The statement stresses that the State was not ordered to make a direct payment to Mr. Aboukhalil, but that the aforementioned sentence only allocated to him the equivalent of the aforementioned fine, as well as alleged financial and moral harm. However, this allocation would only apply in the case where the judgment of the Court of Repression of Illicit Enrichment (CREI) would be effectively enforced by the State, thus aiming to prevent and neutralize the effects of such recovery.
The Ministry of Finance, going back to the origin of the case, recalls that the French Court of Cassation ruled by dismissing the appeal without specifying any particular reason, which rendered the decision of the Tribunal arbitral de Paris fully enforceable. However, Mamadou Moustapha Bâ points out that to date, no property belonging to Senegal has been seized.
Ibrahima Aboukhalil, also known as Bibo Bourgi, is a member of the famous Bourgi family, of Lebanese origin and settled in Senegal since the last years of the colonial era. He is a businessman close to Karim Wade, his co-accused in the case of the “hunt for ill-gotten gains” that followed the election of Macky Sall to the presidency of the Republic in 2012. After a high-profile trial, Bibo Bourgi, considered the former minister’s chief “straw man”, was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 138.239 billion CFA francs. The execution of this decision had led to the seizure of several properties belonging to Bibo Bourgi in the country. To obtain compensation, Mr. Aboukhalil had invoked his French nationality as a businessman and had turned to the Tribunal arbitral de Paris, on the basis of the bilateral investment treaty between France andSenegal and the Regulations of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Thus, on 2 October 2021, the State of Senegal was ordered by the Court of Appeal of Paris to pay damages of approximately 256 million euros to Ibrahim Abou Khalil, said Bibo Bourgi.
In this note, the Minister of Finance points out that Senegal is a sovereign State with immunity from execution, making it impossible to enforce its property. This position is probably intended to protect national interests and avoid potentially harmful consequences for the State.
It is important to note that this case remains subject to future developments and that legal decisions may evolve over time.
