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102 CHAPTER 21,083,304.55 Francs. 77 This ruling was to the despair of the French colonialadministration, which envisioned thousands of this kind of claims from formerslaves all through the territory. 78 In its ruling of 10 November 1954 the Tribunaldeclared itself incompetent to deal with the matter ‘ratione loci’, but the politicaldimensions of the case had to be dealt with. In 1954 the Commission onSocial Affairs of the Assembly of the Union Française commissioned one of itsmembers, Pastor Emmanuel La Gravière, of the French Reformed Church, toconduct an inquiry into the slave trade in AOF. Awad el Djouh, from his side,went to appeal at the Tribunal de Première Instance, which validated the judgementof the Tribunal de Travail and returned the case to this court. In its secondjudgement of 30 November 1955 the Tribunal du Travail restated its incompetence.In a letter to the Governor of Soudan Français, the Governor General inDakar decided that:The competent Tribunal in this Territory is the Juge de Paix of extended competencein Gao to which the Procureur général will direct himself confidentially, to draw hisattention to the social (and political) effects of the judgement he will be called tomake. 79By then the case of Awad el Djouh was publicly known in France andthroughout the world through newspaper articles, and the work of La Gravièrewho did not shun media coverage. The inquiries of La Gravière and the case ofAwad el Djouh coincided with renewed efforts of the British Anti SlaverySociety to integrate measures against slavery in the structures of the UnitedNations, which generated much media attention too. 80 By 1955 Awad elDjouh’s story had been condensed and presented in the tabloid press as follows:Mohamed Ali ag Attaher, a powerful and rich man, engaged me one day as hisservant, together with another man, his wife and their baby. This is a long time ago,probably 15 years. Together, we made the long sacred journey. But upon our arrivalin Mecca, my master sent me to work for Prince Abdallah Faysal. Long monthspassed. (…) I learned one day that Mohamed Ali had left for Africa. The Princecalled me before him and told me that I was no longer a free man; that I had beensold as a slave; that he had paid for me and that I was his property forever. Yearswent by. One day the prince ordered his steward to sell me on the slave market inJeddah. I was brought there in a truck. I entered a great dark hall. There were manymen and women assembled there: Slaves, like me. I managed to escape. (…) I triedto get on board of a ship destined for Africa a number of times but the policefollowed me. I managed to board a cargo ship: I hid on board and disembarked in77787980Tribunal de travail de Bamako, no 174: Audience publique du mercredi 10 novembre1954, entre le Sieur Aouat Aljou boy cuisinier demeurant à Bamako et MohamedAli ag Attaher demeurant à Goundam. ACG.Cdt. Cercle Goundam à Gov. Soudan Français, 10/11/1955, 105/.c. ACG.Gouverneur Général AOF à Gov. Soudan Français, 24/01/1956. ANM – FN 1E-961.Miers, S. 2003: 317-332.