Bill No. 10/2021 amending Law No. 65-60 of 21 July 1965 on the Penal Code and Bill No. 11/2021 amending Law No. 65-61 of 21 July 1965 on the Code of Criminal Procedure will be put to a vote tomorrow, Friday, 25 June, in the National Assembly.
In a decree dated 15 June, the President of Macky Sall instructed the Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, Me Malick Sall, to set out the reasons for it and to support the discussion before the hemicycle.
In addition, the Head of State instructed the latter and the Minister of Labour, Social Dialogue, Professional Organizations and Relations with Institutions to implement the decree that will be published in the «Official Journal».
Meanwhile, Seneweb has gone through the document.
The government now wants to fight “terrorist acts and other acts of support”. According to him, ‘are terrorist acts punishable by criminal imprisonment for life, when they are committed intentionally in relation to an individual or collective enterprise intended to intimidate a population, to seriously disturb the public order or the normal functioning of national or international institutions, to compel a government or international organization to carry out or refrain from carrying out any act of terror, attacks and plots, crimes committed by participation in an insurrectional movement, violence and assault committed against persons and destruction or damage committed during a gathering, kidnappings and forcible confinement, threats, information and communication technology offences.
On the issue of sanctions, the bill states that a sentence of one to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 to 2,000,000 CFA francs is punishable, the person who apologizes for the acts in question. It is any person who recruits another person to be a member of a group or to participate in the commission of a terrorist act, is punished with criminal imprisonment for life, any person who provides or proposes to provide weapons to a group, to a member of a group or to any other person for his participation in the commission of a terrorist act, shall be punished with criminal imprisonment for life.Or, any person who, in addition to the offences provided for in the legislation in force to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, provides support to a group, a member of a group or any other person, for his participation in the commission of a terrorist act, shall be punished with criminal imprisonment for life.
A person who distributes or makes available to the public a message with the intention of inciting the commission of a terrorist act is also a member of the public. And he is punished with life imprisonment when there is a risk that one or more of these acts will be committed.
Sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years in prison and fines ranging from 500,000 to 2,000,000 CFA francs
They are also punished by imprisonment for 5 to 10 years and a fine of 500,000 to 2,000,000 CFA francs, those who knowingly harboured a person whom they knew to have committed a terrorist act, who they knew to have been sought by the courts for that reason, or who exempted or attempted to exempt the accused person for the same act from arrest or search, or helped her to hide or flee”; “those who cannot justify resources corresponding to their lifestyle, while being in habitual contact with one or more persons engaged in a terrorist act”, among others.
Statements that made the parliamentary opposition react. These amendments are fundamentally aimed at equating the exercise of the right to demonstrate with terrorism (example: Title II, article 279-1). This is very serious and unacceptable. Together with the FRN, the M2D and all the vital forces of the nation, we will denounce this attack on our democracy,’ she warned.
Source: Seneweb
