On Friday, the Antananarivo Court of Cassation in Madagascar confirmed the sentence imposed in December on Philippe François, a former colonel in the French army. Accused of having participated in an assassination plan against the Malagasy president, he was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor.
“We are devastated by this result. There are many emotions because it is a deeply unfair situation, it is a huge ordeal for our family,” his daughter, Constance Wagner-François, explained to BFMTV.
A brilliant soldier, Philippe François, 54, served 25 years in the marine troops. He was also decorated with the Cross for Military Valor and the Cross of War for Foreign Theaters of Operations, according to reports. The Figaro.
A gold mining business
When he left to settle on the Indian Ocean island in 2020, he met the French-Malagasy Paul Maillot, a graduate like him in Saint-Cyr, with whom he joined in a gold mining business. But a year later, Philippe François decided to abandon the project and wanted to return to France. Problem, he was arrested by Malagasy police at Antananarivo airport.
To justify his arrest, the island’s justice alleges that Philippe François participated in an alleged “Apollo 21” operation, led by his business partner Paul Maillot, whose mission was to eliminate the Malagasy head of state Andry Rajoelina.
Since then, the former colonel has been held in Tsiafahy prison, which has a sinister reputation. “The prison is notorious because there is no dining room system, no shower system or toilets. His shower is a pitcher of water that he puts on his head. It’s the same thing, it’s on a seal,” laments his daughter Constance.
A petition asking for his repatriation
All those close to the case indicate that the charges against Philippe François are not solid. The former soldier also describes the case as “a political reckoning.” And the journalists present in Antananarivo judged Friday’s hearing to be expeditious.
“With the elements of the file, my client Philippe deserves to be acquitted. The verdict is quite unfair,” French lawyer Me Chan Fa explained in December.
The family of the convicted person also criticizes the attitude of the French government, which they accuse of not taking the case seriously enough. “Everyone knows that my father is innocent but the Quai d’Orsay asked us not to make waves, specifying that the protection service for French residents abroad was dealing with the file,” he lamented in the columns of Figaro Constance Wagner-Francois.
Pending a possible official reaction from Paris, the relatives of Philippe François have launched a petition calling for the repatriation of the father of the family.
Source: BFM TV
