The MPs of Yaw, Massata Samb and Mamadou Niang, risk 2 years in prison. A sentence required against them by the prosecution. The civil party, Amy Ndiaye Gniby, while awaiting the verdict which will be rendered on December 26, is asking for 500 million francs in compensation.
The MPs of the parliamentary group Yewwi askan wi (Yaw), Massata Samb and Mamadou Niang, faced the judge of the Court of first instance. They appeared for acts of intentional assault and battery on a vulnerable person because of her state of pregnancy to the detriment of Amy Ndiaye. They risk two years in prison.
“That is not true. Things didn’t start like that. She made discourteous remarks about my religious guide. When I took the floor, I asked the President of the National Assembly to recall the Rules of Procedure, because there is a member who made discourteous remarks towards a religious guide. She retorted by saying “Ma tééy”, I assume. I came and ripped off her scarf, no one can say who I slapped her,” Massata Samb said.
But when asked by the judge why he wanted to rip off her headscarf, unabashed Massata Samb said. “I did it because she gives MPs no respect. She insults people in the Assembly.” The deputy of Pur, looking like an athlete, clarifies for the judge that if he had hit Awa Ndiaye, she would not remain standing, but that he had come to snatch her scarf after having lacked consideration to his spiritual guide. According to the MP, when he was walking towards the lady to tear off her scarf, someone pulled him from behind. And that’s what explains why he missed the scarf. “There is someone who pulled me back. I believe it’s the bailiff. I never hit her,” he added. A denial that surprised the judge, who sent him two photos taken during this fight and which contrast with his words, so that he can observe them well. But the MP remained firm in his position. “I never slapped her. By tearing off the scarf, it may seem that I gave him a slap. But I never laid hands on her,” he tried to clear himself.
But when asked by the judge why he wanted to rip off her headscarf, unabashed Massata Samb said. “I did it because she gives MPs no respect. She insults people in the Assembly.” The MP of Pur, looking like an athlete, clarified for the judge that if he had hit Awa Ndiaye, she would not remain standing, but that he had come to snatch her scarf for lacking consideration to his spiritual guide.
According to the facts of the case, it was when Awa Ndiaye took a chair to respond to her attacker that Mamadou Niangappeared to kick him in the stomach. A charge that the latter vehemently contested before the bar, “I ran to come between them. I saw the member who had a chair, she came with pace, I raised my hands and my foot. She hit me and we fell. It’s a collision, « said Mamadou Niang to defend himself. According to him, he did not come out unscathed from this collision.Which explains the presence of medical certificates of the defendants in the file.
The MP for Bby also accused Yaw MPs of death threats during the vote on the Interior Ministry budget. In this regard, Massata Samb and Mamadou Niang have also denied the facts, arguing that it is their parliamentary group. “We never threatened her with death. On the contrary, it was she who threatened us. Every time she talks to someone, she challenges them to come and fight with her outside. She did it to Bara Doli,” denounced Massata Samb, who says he never intended to hit her. “If I wanted to hit her, I was going to use a punch,” he pointed out. It is the same song sung by MamadouNiang.
« He didn’t hit her. He missed her. It was when I saw her brandishing the chair that I came to meet her. We collided and fell because she came with pace. My foot touched her. But I had no intention of hitting her. For me it’s a collision. I lifted my foot on reflexes. She collided with my foot,” detailed Niang.
Defence arguments which led the representative of the public prosecutor to want to understand what motivated the descent of Massata Samb from the pulpit to rush towards the civil party absent at the hearing. « It’s because she made discourteous remarks to my spiritual guide, who showed me the right path, » Samb replied to the loud applause of the Mouchtarchidin talibés, who came in large numbers to attend the hearing.
The testimony of the MPs, Abass Fall and Mr. Dione, corroborates the statements of their colleagues on the stand. “I witnessed everything that happened. The minutes drawn up by the president has nothing to do with what happened in the Assembly. What happened? Massata asked that the Rules of Procedure be applied, because there is an MP who has insulted a religious authority. That’s how she said, « Ma téey. » He then went tearing off her scarf. That’s how it happened.He didn’t hit her. Our colleague never mentioned the name of the lady,« he said, while stressing that he does not know Massata‘s intentions when he rushed towards Awa Ndiaye.
The testimony of the MPs, Abass Fall and Mr. Dione, corroborates the statements of their colleagues on the stand. “I witnessed everything that happened. The report drawn up by the president has nothing to do with what happened in the Assembly. What happened? Massata asked that the Rules of Procedure be applied, because there is an MP who has insulted a religious authority. That’s how she said, « Ma téey. » He then went tearing off her scarf. That’s how it happened.He didn’t hit her. Our colleague never mentioned the name of the lady, » he said, while stressing that he does not know Massata‘s intentions when he rushed towards Awa Ndiaye. As far as Mamadou Niang was concerned, he testified: “I did not see a kick. What I saw were hands raised to intercept the chair the lady was carrying. I saw that the lady fell. But both of us felt too. »
Amy Ndiaye Demands 500 Million From the 2 MPs
This is not the opinion of the lawyers for the civil party. According to them, Massata struck the lady in the temple. And the defendants also made threats against her, going so far as to deny her access to the National Assembly. The civil party maintains that their client ended up with an abdominal disorder and a risk of abortion. Her lawyers claimed the sum of 500 million francs in compensation because beyond the mother, it is the health of the child that is threatened.
In the opinion of the prosecution, there can be no excuse of provocation that can be granted in this case. Believing that the facts are constant, he requested 2 years in prison. For the representative of the public prosecutor, it is not within the Assembly that we should mistreat women. For the defence, there is indeed an excuse of provocation, in the sense that the MP, who claims to be the victim of violence, made her remarks to shun the religious guide of her colleagues.
Of the belief that the material element is lacking, Lawyers Abdou Nar Ndiaye and Adama Fall pleaded for release in the main and, in the alternative, to give their clients the benefit of the doubt by granting them mitigating circumstances because the stability of the country is at stake. Previously, the defence had raised a nullity exception relating to the parliamentary immunity of their clients, which was joined to the merits after a controversial debate.
The MPs will be edified on their fate on December 26.
By Justin GOMIS /
justin@lequotidien.sn
- Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH
