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Karim Wade, son of Senegal's former President
Abdoulaye Wade, arriving at a court in Dakar on July 31, 2014 for the start of
his trial for charges of illicit enrichment
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Karim Wade, the high-flying son of former Senegal
president Abdoulaye Wade bidding to follow his father to the top office, was
sentenced Monday to six years in prison in a deeply divisive graft case. The 46-year-old
presidential hopeful and flamboyant former minister was found guilty of
"illicit enrichment" and fined the equivalent of more than 210
million euros (US$230 million).
He was however cleared of the main corruption charge
by a special anti-corruption court in Dakar.
AFP report continues:
The verdict was met with cries of dismay from dozens
of Wade's supporters inside the courtroom, with some breaking down in tears.
Several lawyers told AFP that Wade could appeal the sentence.
Wade himself was not present in court but his father,
who will soon turn 89, showed up for the verdict. The senior Wade had
previously shunned appearances in court.
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Senegal's former president Abdoulaye Wade pictured
during a meeting of the opposition Senegalese Democratic Party on February 4,
2015, at the Place de l'Obelisque in Dakar ©Seyllou (AFP)
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There was tight security in the building with police
and gendarmes deployed both outside and inside.
The sentence comes just two days after the
opposition Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) choose Karim Wade as its candidate
for the country's next presidential election. The poll date has yet to be set.
Senegal's President Macky Sall, who beat Karim
Wade's father in a tight election in 2012, had warned that his government would
stifle any unrest provoked by the court ruling.
Karim Wade went on trial in June 2014 charged with
illegally acquiring companies and real estate worth almost 178 million euros
while serving in various government posts during his father's 2000-2012
presidency.
He has been in custody since April 2013, while
justice officials investigated claims he abused his position to accumulate vast
riches.
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'Minister of heaven and Earth' -
Prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison term.
Wade denies the charges, and his supporters -- led
by his father -- claim the trial is politically motivated.
After a successful career in finance in the City of
London, Karim Wade returned to Senegal two years after his father's 2000
presidential victory, and was soon tapped for a series of increasingly
important public positions.
Those included simultaneous appointments to key
ministerial portfolios, earning him the nickname "minister of heaven and
Earth."
He was also chosen to head the National Agency for
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (ANOCI), which successfully oversaw
the transformation of Dakar in time to host the 11th Islamic Summit of 57
Muslim countries in 2008 -- but was also criticized for a lack of financial
transparency.
Backed by his father, Wade was also selected to
oversee the construction of a new international airport in Dakar, the
restructuring of Senegal's chemical industry and the creation of a special
economic zone.
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Mistrust and derision -
But the younger Wade, whose mother Viviane is
French, also inspired mistrust and derision among voters over his long stays in
Europe. They also mocked his affection for traditional Senegalese clothes
despite having never mastered the country's main language Wolof.
Voters made their disdain clear in 2009, when Wade
campaigned to become the mayor of Dakar -- a bid interpreted as setting the
table for higher national political ambitions, but which resulted in his
electoral drubbing.
Despite the trouncing, the elder Wade sought to pass
a bill creating the post of vice-president, which many observers viewed as
designed to facilitate his son's eventual ascension to the presidency.
Karim
Wade's divisive influence continued to grow up to Senegal's 2012 presidential
election, which his father lost to challenger Sall -- whom Wade supporters
accuse of having orchestrated the current corruption proceedings.
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