Liberation Square. The place is not insignificant. It is on this piece of asphalt, located two steps from the headquarters of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine), where the lawyer Juan Branco held, on Wednesday, October 16, a conference of press. conference to punish the “violent” arrest of his client, the activist “ pan-africanist » Kemi Seba. The Beninese activist, head of the NGO Urgences panafricanistes, whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, was arrested on Monday in Paris. He was in possession of a Nigerien diplomatic passport and a Schengen visa.
According to his lawyer, Kemi Seba has since been in police custody. For “intelligence with a foreign power” – without further details about the facts incriminated – and “ “attack on the fundamental interests of the nation”. Crimes punishable by up to thirty years in prison.
A virulent critic of French policy in Africa, very present on social networks where he has a significant audience in Africa and in the continent’s diasporas, Seba, according to his lawyer, would be hired by the DGSI in “retaliation for their commitment against neocolonialism and against the abuses produced by the Franco-African regimes, particularly in West Africa”. “ “We are trying to build a pretext to destroy this man and put him in the shadows.” thundered Mr. Branco who, furthermore, considered that this arrest could only have been initiated with “a political agreement and by instructions of the government”, even “the Elysium”.
What was Kemi Seba doing in France? The 42-year-old activist, born in Strasbourg, was stripped of his French nationality by decree on July 9. In March he posted a video in which he was seen burning a document he described as his French passport. “He has relatives who stayed in France”said Juan Branco, referring to a sick father.
Actions financed by the Russian Wagner group
Upon arriving from Spain, the activist would meet with opponents of the Beninese president, Patrice Talon. In May, Kemi Seba, former leader of Tribe Ka – a small openly anti-Semitic and segregationist group dissolved by French authorities in 2006 – accused Paris of trying to destabilize Niger from Benin. His lawyer suspects that Paris wants to make a “favor” to the Beninese power by expelling his client to his country of origin, where he would be “immediately detained” and imprisoned in “life sentence for political crimes”. Since the July 2023 coup in Niger, Kemi Seba has become close to the head of the junta, General Abdourahamane Tiani, for whom he holds the title of “special advisor”.
The Beninese are also one of the cards in the game of influence that Russia is playing on the African continent. Some of its operations were financed with several hundred thousand euros by the Russian group Wagner, according to the newspaper. young africa, from the Arte channel and the German newspaper Die Welt. Among its objectives: organize anti-French and anti-Western demonstrations, and identify or support local associations and personalities willing to transmit Russian propaganda in their country at the most opportune moment.
“I remind you that one of the fundamental criteria of intelligence with the enemy is secrecy. However, Kemi Seba did nothing secret at any time.”commented Juan Branco. in your account
“He always assumed [ses relations avec des pays comme Cuba ou le Venezuela] and highlighted what he considered fundamental geostrategic and geopolitical partnerships to enable the emancipation of African peoples and never enslave them to a new power.Mr. Branco insisted. He also reminded the Russian authorities in Russia that if he intended to take the place of the former colonist, he could not count on him or the African people. » Juan Branco indicated that his client’s custody could be extended for 96 hours.
