Paris
Lamine Diack, the disgraced former head of athletics’ world governing body, goes on trial in Paris on Monday facing a potential 10-year prison sentence on charges of accepting millions of dollars to cover up Russian doping tests.
Diack, the Senegalese who was in charge of the International Association of Athletics Federations (now World Athletics), between 1999 and 2015, is charged with “giving and receiving bribes”, “breach of trust” and “organised money laundering”, and is expected to attend court.
The prosecution alleges that Diack, who turns 87 on Sunday, obtained $1.5 million of Russian funds to help back Macky Sall’s campaign for the 2012 Senegal presidential election — which he won — in exchange for the IAAF’s anti-doping arm covering up or delaying offences by 23 Russians.
The aim, prosecutors will say, was to allow the Russians to compete in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow.
The trial, following a four-year investigation by the French Financial Prosecutor’s Office, was originally scheduled to start on January 13, and the charges carry not only a maximum sentence of 10 years’ prison but also a heavy fine.
Also appearing in court will be Habib Cisse, Diack’s former legal advisor, who is suspected of having acted as an intermediary between the then-IAAF and Russian athletics and having received hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The former IAAF anti-doping chief Gabriel Dolle will also be there, accused of “receiving bribes” amounting to 190,000 euros.—APP
