“The Quai d’Orsay does not keep us informed of what is happening,” lament the parents of the young Frenchwoman

A rally takes place on Saturday in Grenoble to demand the release of Coline Fay, a young Iséroise imprisoned in Senegal for two months after participating in a demonstration.

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Coline Fay has been incarcerated in Senegal since November 17, 2023. (- / FAMILY HANDOUT)

“The Quai d’Orsay does not keep us informed of what is happening, of what they are doing”, deplored Saturday January 13 on franceinfo Véronique Murat and Jean-Yves Fay, the parents of Coline Fay, a young Iséroise incarcerated in Senegal since November 17. This 26-year-old physiotherapist demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court in Dakar during a peaceful rally in support of Ousmane Sonko, the main political opponent of the current Senegalese president, Macky Sall. She was arrested after the demonstration. “On December 27, we had one last phone call. And since then it has been dead silence since she was summoned to the police station”regrets Jean-Yves Fay. “We are very worried.”

A rally took place in Grenoble this Saturday January 13. Coline Fay’s parents contacted “many mayors, deputies, senators from various departments, who in turn were kind enough to relay” their requests “by letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister”, testifies his mother Véronique Murat. If the family is kept informed “by the detainees office of the Quai d’Orsay”, she is not “no way” aware “whether or not there are ongoing negotiations for its exit, what contact there may be between the French government and the Senegalese government.”

“It still seems unacceptable to us that she is still in prison two months after a peaceful demonstration”

Véronique Murat and Jean-Yves Fay, Coline Fay’s parents

at franceinfo

If Coline Fay’s parents admit that the negotiations, if they take place, should be discreet. They hope “even though the government is working to free Coline.”Jean-Yves Fay believes that “the government reacted more quickly for the Frenchman who is detained in Azerbaijan”.

Coline Fay’s father asks to know “the precise facts” blamed on his daughter, “because these are charges which are not substantiated at all”according to him. “I do not recognize my daughter at all in what is said in these charges. She is a political activist, but she is not a terrorist. She has always been very peaceful. Everything she has done , it was without any violence. And all these charges are a bit exaggerated.”, he believes. Coline Fay is “a girl who is very active. Knowing her locked in a cell is unacceptable. She has other things to do at 26 than stay in prison, especially since she has done nothing.”

The parents of the young Isère girl did not “no more news” and hope “She’s okay.” “The consulate is watching and has to go see her once a week. But, as we no longer have her live, we can’t really answer” to the question of whether she is well, adds Jean-Yves Fay.


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