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Karim Wade

DAKAR. — There has been mixed reaction from Senegal’s political class over the eventual release of Karim Wade, former minister and son to ex-president Abdoulaye Wade.

Wade was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption, in an anti-graft campaign that was launched by President Macky Sall after coming to power in March 2012.

“We never wanted to have Wade imprisoned, but we live in a country that respects the rule of law and everyone is subject to it,” said Youssou Toure, the secretary of state in charge of literacy, who is also an official of the ruling party, Alliance for the Republic (APR).

“If the presidential pardon is accorded to him, we applaud that move since it is on humanitarian grounds,” Toure added.

“We are in a country of laws. Everyone has a right to think and say whatever they want. Today, there are many people saying a lot of things, but no one so far knows how Wade is going to walk out of the prison,” another APR official and member of parliament Abdou Mbow added.

“No one knows whether it will be a presidential pardon, conditional release or an amnesty,” Mbow said, deploring the habit of most Senegalese people to “read much” into political and judicial decisions.

Ahmet Fall who is a parliamentarian on the ticket of former ruling party, Senegal Democratic Party (PDS), expressed joy at the willingness of Sall to release Wade.

Addressing the press recently in Dakar, Fall asked the president to respect his commitment on the issue.

“Wade was prosecuted and sentenced. Today, he should leave the prison, but all that I want to ask is that Sall honours his word before the people. The release of Wade will be a breath of fresh air for his father who has given everything for this country,” he said. In an interview that appeared in a local daily newspaper, parliamentarian Modou Diagne Fada who is a former confidant of ex-president Wade, said the former powerful minister was “politically arrested, and he should be politically released.”

“Karim Wade is not supposed to be in prison. Until now when I am speaking to you, there is no evidence linking him to corruption and we continue to insist that his detention was arbitrary,” Fada said.

However, some members of the ruling party did not hesitate to criticise the decision of Senegalese president to release Wade from prison.

“If today, Wade who was found guilty of corruption is released, it will be a political message directed to all people who will want to embezzle public funds or engage in corruption,” warned Mamadou Ndoye, a member of the Democratic League that supports the government.

“Wade’s release will signify: Yes, you can steal and in any case, we shall set you free. This is why we think such an act is not good under the current political situation, even though a pardon is a prerogative of the president of the republic,” he affirmed. — Xinhua.