Second day of resumption of the fine coal case trial. The serious things begin on November 7, 2023, with feedback from the parties on the judicial expert report, ordered by the court a few weeks ago. The Essakane mine, suspected of marketing fraud, says it is reassured by the results of the two experts’ report. This is why his representative, as since the start of the affair, did not recognize the facts (Editor’s note: read box).
During the hearing on November 6, the court authorized the broadcast of a short film of Essakane on its coal processing circuit to recover gold in order to enlighten the parties to the trial. The prosecution also obtained the intervention of Arsène Yonli, the first expert whose report was rejected by Essakane. His presentation added grist to the prosecution’s mill, in turn to the thesis of manipulation of the contents of the seized cargo.
Essakane’s lawyers have contested Mr Yonli’s expert status in these proceedings and want his presentation to be rejected. The substantive debates begin on November 7.
JB
Boxed
Tidiane Barry, DG Essakane on the expertise results
“We are now getting to the heart of the matter. Today we have the results of an expertise which was carried out for almost 4 years. The truth is crystal clear. The results of these expertises clearly demonstrate that Essakane is not in a situation of having wanted to defraud because the quantities of gold and the contents determined by the expertise represent within a few figures the estimate that Essakane had declared. I think that’s what’s important, what we need to remember. For the rest, there are discussions: how the Essakane process is done, the contents, etc. We must not lose sight of the essentials.
The truth is that Essakane estimated the quantities which are found in the results of the expert report, the real judicial report. As for the report that was presented by Mr. Yonli, obviously it is not a judicial report and he does not have the status of expert. At the current state of the procedure, we are confident and I think that we already have elements of a manifestation of the truth through the scientific results which are determined through judicial expertise.”
