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PARIS. — The trial of former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack in Paris has been delayed until June after prosecutors received documents concerning testimony from his son and co-defendant Papa Massata Diack.
Diack, accused of corruption, influence-trafficking and money laundering in a case linked to the Russian doping scandal, will remain in France before the trial resumes after his lawyers’ request for him to return to Senegal was rejected.
The 86-year-old, who is alleged to have covered up positive drugs tests from Russian athletes, appeared at the Tribunal de Grand Instance de Paris for a trial which had been scheduled to run three days a week until January 23. But the case, which could have far-reaching consequences for world sport, has now been adjourned after the national financial prosecutor’s office was handed documents relating to evidence given by Papa Massata Diack in November.
Prosecutors asked for more time to review the new evidence from Papa Massata, who did not appear at the trial as he refuses to be extradited from Senegal.
They said they received three folders of notes — which reportedly include testimony Papa Massata gave to investigators in Senegal — only hours before the start of the hearing in the French capital.
The dramatic twist postpones Diack’s eagerly-awaited trial, where he is standing alongside former advisor Habib Cisse and Gabriel Dolle — the former anti-doping chief at the IAAF, since rebranded as World Athletics. — Insidethegames.com
Online Reporter