For several days, a controversy defying all reason has persisted. It stems from a letter written by Juan Branco, lawyer, essayist, and legal representative of Kemi Seba, addressed to Ousmane Sonko, then Prime Minister of the Republic of Senegal, which allegedly leaked on social media.
In his letter dated 4 February 2025, Juan Branco outlined five major areas in which he requests the intervention of his dear friend Ousmane Sonko.
Spanish rogatory commission and pressure on the judiciary
Regarding the rogatory commission issued by a Spanish judge concerning his abduction in Mauritania, Juan Branco subtly asks Ousmane Sonko to put pressure on the Senegalese judicial authorities to facilitate their cooperation. To justify this, he questions the sovereignty of the Senegalese state by alleging French behind-the-scenes involvement in handling the case.
Access to intelligence documents
Concerning intelligence files, Juan Branco requests access to documents and elements from the Senegalese intelligence services related to him, dating from the former political regime (under President Macky Sall), particularly in connection with French secret services. The lawyer explains that he is a victim of a “very powerful counter-narrative” in France, which fuels disciplinary and criminal proceedings against him. He specifically mentions an attempt at Kompromat (a trap to compromise him) in October 2023 involving at least one Senegalese agent, just before an important hearing in Senegal. This request for access to such documents constitutes an incitement to breach national defence secrecy (Article 61 et seq. of the Senegalese Penal Code), a violation of professional secrecy (Article 371 of the Senegalese Penal Code), and the offence of communicating non-communicable information.
France-ICC criminal procedure against former President Sall
In the file of the criminal procedure between France and the International Criminal Court concerning crimes against humanity regarding former President Mr Sall, Juan Branco implores direct action from Sonko in the case, particularly on the financial front. Imploring Ousmane Sonko’s direct action in this matter exposes both protagonists to serious judicial and political setbacks, due to flagrant violations of legal frameworks that such an approach entails. On the criminal level, asking the Prime Minister to transmit intelligence records without any requisition from a judge constitutes a direct incitement to breach national defence secrecy and violate professional secrecy, offences heavily punished under the Senegalese Penal Code. For the lawyer, obtaining these classified documents would immediately fall under the offence of concealing state secrets. Furthermore, requesting public or partisan funding (via the PASTEF party) for private proceedings for crimes against humanity in France, while the Senegalese state is not a civil party, poses a major risk of misappropriation of public funds or abusive use of political funds. By bypassing official judicial channels (such as the rogatory commission) in favour of a private arrangement based on political proximity, this approach undermines the credibility of international procedures and turns a quest for justice into a series of criminal transgressions that could backfire on its authors.
Nationality and functions
Juan Branco reminds the Prime Minister of his wish, expressed as early as May 2024, to represent the Republic of Senegal at the United Nations in New York. He believes his appointment would have had a strong symbolic and political impact, aligning with the “sovereignist and pan-Africanist” line of the new regime, and stresses that he would have loyally conveyed the Senegalese president’s message despite his foreign nationality (French). Noting through the press that another diplomat has been chosen, he pivots to another request: obtaining Senegalese nationality through exceptional presidential prerogatives. This naturalisation would allow him to register with the Senegalese bar and teach at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar. This file highlights an attempt by Juan Branco to circumvent republican and corporate rules, seeking from the Prime Minister the discretionary granting of Senegalese nationality as well as direct interventions to enter the Bar and UCAD — steps that violate equality before the law and the independence of these institutions. Similarly, his past claim to represent Senegal at the UN posed a major risk of conflict of interest and geopolitical interference due to his French nationality. Beyond these transgressions, this passage reveals the profound transformation of his relationship with Ousmane Sonko: the lawyer, positioning himself as a moral creditor due to his past sacrifices (detention, abduction), attempts to monetise his activism in exchange for positions of political and symbolic influence. Noting with bitterness that he has been sidelined from diplomatic circles by a government now subject to the realities of the state and keen to preserve its sovereignist facade, Branco shifts their dynamic from a militant alliance to a veiled demand relationship, where the demand for administrative and financial favours compensates for his political disillusionment.
Financial matters
Juan Branco takes stock of the sums of money received. He declares having received a total of 15,000 euros in fees between 2023 and 2025, including 2,000 euros in expenses paid by his Senegalese colleague, Maître Bamba Cissé, during a trip to Dakar. He specifies that this money was used to cover material expenses (plane tickets, travel) and office costs (interns, collaborators) related to the “representation mandate” entrusted by Sonko’s camp. He concludes by stating that these sums are largely insufficient to cover the work time provided, his abduction costs, detention, and the judicial proceedings he faces in France. This part of the letter reveals opaque and informal accounting management that exposes both friends to serious risks of criminal and ethical misconduct. By declaring that he received a total of 15,000 euros in fees and expenses through indirect channels, notably via a transfer from his Senegalese colleague Maître Bamba Cissé for a “representation mandate” entrusted by Sonko’s camp, Juan Branco highlights the total absence of a public and legal contractual framework with the State of Senegal. If these funds were of public origin, this private transaction, carried out outside the strict procedures for public contracts and the State Judicial Agent, legally resembles misappropriation of public funds, while its financial opacity flirts with non-compliance with billing rules and traceability of capital flows. On the level of their relationship, this material accounting acts as a pragmatic turning point: the lawyer, having noted in the previous section the failure of his ambitions for political appointments (UN, UCAD), chooses to present the bill for his activism by insisting on his physical sacrifices (abduction, detention) to demand financial compensation, thus transforming what was presented as a disinterested ideological alliance into a purely transactional and mercantile power struggle.
