perpetrators, pursuant to the afore-mentioned provisions of
Articles 670, 671, 672 et 674 of the Code of criminal procedure,
which grant jurisdiction to the courts in Burkina Faso, because of
the nationality of the perpetrators, of the crime, the indictment for
the crime, by both the Togolese and Burkinabe laws, the official
denunciation of the robbery operations by the Togolese authorities
to their Burkina Faso counterparts, the identification in Burkina
Faso of an act, which is characteristic of the crime. The Court is of
a strong opinion that such a request cannot constitute a legitimate
or reasonable ground for the elongation of the period of police
custody.
31. As for the second correspondence dated 2 November 2010, it
makes one to believe that it is a request for judicial assistance, or
extradition. Indeed, it is framed as follows: « it is with great sigh of
relief (...) that we learnt about the arrest, by your commands, of
Messrs. Badini Salfo (... ) and others, the presumed authors, and a
group of criminals and pe1petrators of armed robbery committed
in Lome, on 21 August 2010 (... ). Thus, in order to allow these
presumed perpetrators to answer for the acts they have committed,
_ before the Togolese courts, in continuation of the judicial j . ·
proceedings that have been. initiated against them, for which a copy
.· of the Minutes is hereby attached, I have the singular honour to - --:
request that you should kindly put the afore - mentioned persons
at the disposal of the Togolese National Gendarmerie(. .. )». After
analysing the said correspondence, the Court notes that, at the date
it was sent, the period of police custody . had already been
prolonged, beyond the legally approved period, all in violation of
the Burkinabe law.
·
32. For all that, the Court observes that the Defendant State does
not bring proof that the Burkina Faso courts were not in a position
· to exercise their jurisdiction over cases of criminal activities
committed on the territory of Togo, by Mr. Badini · Salfo, for the
offenses he is accused, or in doing so, it could lead the national
courts in Burkina Faso to act in a manner which is incompatible
with the conventional obligations that bind the two countries, in
terms of extradition, and judicial assistance in criminal matters.
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