Arrested for fraud, an imam aged around sixty appeared on the morning of Tuesday before the Dixinn first instance court relocated to Ratoma Town Hall.
According to information collected from his lawyer, Ibrahima Sory Djikini was arrested following a complaint from a friend to his son which was addressed to him after the latter had paid a sum of 10 million for a trip to Tunisia and which was finally repatriated when he got off the plane.
« They say that he is being prosecuted for fraud, because until proven otherwise, this is what I have just demonstrated in court, fraud in itself is enjoying a strong quality, false name, to deceive or to use any maneuvers whatsoever to deceive a person in order to take away their property and this is not the case, it is certainly his naivety which worked on him. » explained Me Malick Touré from the start.
Before continuing by saying that this young person was put in contact with his client thanks to his son who is studying in Tunisia.
« The complainant in question had this discussion with the child of my client Mr. Djikini in Tunisia through another person who studies with the latter who suggested that my client’s son help him bring his parent like him already knows the route. So they spoke, Mr. Djikini, it’s an imam that you see like that, he is sitting at home, this gentleman came to find him with his wife, he says that he was recommended by his son, he told me gave your home address, he told me to come see you to give you an amount of 10 million to ship it ” defended the lawyer
« And indeed, the traces are there, he sent the money to Tunisia, and my client Imam Djikiné limited himself there and his mission was limited just to sending the money to buy a single ticket . But on the way back, it was two tickets that came because at the school where he should go to study, when you send the money, it’s them who buy the ticket with the invitation letter, that’s- that is to say, we pay everything at the school, we send you the plane ticket and the invitation letter, that’s what was done. And on the way back, these two tickets which came to Guinea for the wife of Oumar and Baillo of the civil party. They embarked in Guinea, arrived in Tunisia, they found that people were being repatriated and it was not just the Guineans, they were mixed. One fine day when they returned, he went to greet them at the airport in order to accompany them home with his son’s wife. 10 days later, he came to say that the one who pre-financed his trip said to return the money and the imam, he was in all his states. He says instead of doing that, I am a personality in my neighborhood, being imam for 17 years, I cannot accept such humiliation, it is me to whom you gave the 10 million, if you want that I repay, I’m going to repay and that’s how the procedure started until finally, instead of the 10 million that the old man received and even they recognize, it’s 30 million to avoid problems. Because he is a wise man, he is an Imam », made Ibrahima’s lawyer Sory Djikini understand.
Furthermore, the lawyer suggested that this whole story is due to the naivety of his client.
« In my capacity as lawyer for the defenseI know that this file is empty against my client, I started by defining what means fraud, he did not act in a false capacity, he did not act in a false name, the receipt which established the 10 million is his name that is there, he did not go to them, he did not make any fraudulent maneuver to commit this offense, so for me as it is their sacred forest the decision only belongs to to the judge in all sincerity, we will plead not guilty, in the sense that it has nothing to do with the qualification of the offense, of fraud, because he did not take any maneuver to achieve to that. »
At the end of the hearing, the civil party’s lawyer declared on behalf of his client at the bar that Mamadou Bailo Barry has decided to drop the complaint against imam Ibrahima Sory Djikini.
In return, the defense requested provisional release while waiting for the civil party in the case Mamadou Bailo Barry to come to the stand to testify about his withdrawal from the proceedings.
After brief opposition from the prosecution, the president of the court finally agreed to grant provisional release to imam Ibrahima Sory Djikini with the payment of a deposit of 1,500,000 GNF. And send the file back by December 8.
Sam Bantignel Barry
