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A Senegalese appeals court has upheld the life sentence of journalist Rene Capain Bassene for his involvement in a 2018 massacre in the Casamance region, but acquitted another man involved in the case.
The massacre in January 2018 saw 14 loggers killed by armed individuals in the Bayotte forest of Casamance, a region long troubled by a separatist insurgency.
Bassene was convicted of “criminal conspiracy, complicity in murder, and attempted complicity in murder,” though he denies the charges and has filed an appeal. Meanwhile, Omar Ampoi Bodian, a member of the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC) rebel group, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and is set to be released after spending nearly six years in prison.
The court also upheld a life sentence for Cesar Atoute Badiate, an MFDC military leader who remains at large, following his conviction in absentia for murder and armed insurrection. The case has seen a total of 16 people charged, with 11 acquitted and three sentenced to life imprisonment.
While the conflict in Casamance has significantly de-escalated in recent years, the region continues to feel the lingering effects of the decades-long insurgency.
