Dakar court embroiled in sensitive judicial data case, Pierre Sakho faces charges

A case involving the collection and possession of sensitive data has disrupted the operations of the Dakar Public Prosecutor's Office's Bureau of Flagrant Delicts. The trial, heard before the court of flagrant delicts, implicates an IT consultant and two judicial administration agents. Pierre Sakho, a 59-year-old Franco-Senegalese IT specialist, was placed under a committal order on April 13, 2026. He is being prosecuted for the fraudulent collection and processing of sensitive data and faces two months in prison, a fine of 200,000 FCFA, and the confiscation of his phone and computer, as requested by the prosecution. The case centers on the extraction and possession of 4,792 files from the Bureau of Flagrant Delicts, covering the period from 2020 to 2026. Sakho admitted to possessing the data but denied any fraudulent intent, claiming he acted to demonstrate a technical solution for digital transformation and to improve the service's operations. Two others are being prosecuted for complicity: Makhtar Ka, a prison officer at the Bureau of Flagrant Delicts, and Ibrahima Coulibaly, an IT specialist at the Fines Collection Office. Both are on provisional release. Makhtar Ka stated he knew Sakho for over six years and that Sakho approached him for contacts. Ka admitted to giving Sakho the current year's register for a demonstration, intending to present a project to the prosecutor. However, he discovered Sakho possessed data spanning several years, beyond what was provided. Ka cla