Madagascar: for his son-in-law, the French sentenced to 10 years of forced labor is a “political hostage”

While former French colonel Philippe François was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in Madagascar for the attempted assassination of the island’s president, his son-in-law believes his father-in-law is considered a “political hostage”, this Saturday on BFMTV.

“It is a political problem, Philippe François is a political hostage above all else”, denounces the husband of his daughter Constance Wagner-François.

“We feel that there are tensions between Madagascar and France (…). There are many issues that today mean that Philippe François is the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time and the problem can happen to anyone,” he said.

“We can only point to the obvious lack of evidence in the file,” he also believes.

The sentence against former French colonel Philippe Francois was upheld on Friday, sentencing him to 10 years hard labor for taking part in a plot to assassinate the president of Madagascar.

“Dreadful (detention) conditions”

Philippe François’ family is now calling for the former colonel to be granted a “transfer” to a French prison for a “full medical evaluation”. “We are extremely concerned about this,” said Romulus Wagner.

The detainee’s son-in-law denounces “terrible conditions (of detention)”.

“There are rats, necessities are done in the cell, you can’t leave, everything is sold,” he condemns.

All these elements have “a physiological impact, but also a psychological one”, he stresses, considering that “although he is a training soldier, above all he is a man, a father and a son”.

In prison since 2020

Brilliant militaire, Philippe François s’installe sur l’île de l’océan Indien in 2020. Il y rencontre le Franco-Malgache Paul Maillot, diplômé comme lui de Saint-Cyr, avec lequel il il s’associe dans une affaire d’extraction Prayed.

A year later, the former colonel decided to abandon the project and wanted to return to France, but was arrested by the Malagasy police at the Antananarivo airport. She accuses him of having participated in an alleged “Apollo 21” operation, led by his partner and whose mission was to eliminate the Malagasy head of state Andry Rajoelina.

Since then, Philippe François has been detained in Tsiafahy prison. His relatives have launched a petition to request his transfer to France.