In 2018, 14 woodcutters were killed in the Bayottes forest. Journalist René Capain Bassène was arrested eight days after the murders. In 2022, he was sentenced to life in prison for complicity to murder, attempted murder and criminal conspiracy, charges that witnesses disputed. According to the latter, “crimes that he could not have committed”, as reported by CPJ.
In late 2024, CPJ’s review of court documents and interviews revealed that the investigation against Bassène was marred by numerous irregularities. Several acquitted people said they were forced to implicate the journalist or sign erroneous reports. Additionally, the investigation relied on inconsistent evidence regarding Bassène’s whereabouts at the time of the murders. CPJ also expressed doubts about the authenticity of the emails attributed to it. The journalist also claimed to have been mistreated in detention, and medical documents indicate an ear injury resulting from “trauma”.
A link between imprisonment and his journalistic work
CPJ’s investigation also revealed that Bassène’s imprisonment may be linked to his journalistic activities. Court documents show prosecutors mentioned his phone calls and emails before and after the killings in their arguments against him. These elements led Bassène to appear, in 2024, among the journalists imprisoned worldwide, according to the CPJ’s annual census. Senegal, despite the election of a new president and a reforming parliament in 2024, is among the five African countries that imprison the most journalists, according to CPJ’s 2023 census.
A journalist determined to expose the profiteers of the Casamance conflict
CPJ notes that René Capain Bassène is a victim of his determination to expose those who are profiting from the conflict in Casamance. He had planned to publish a book entitled “A conflict that feeds more than it kills”, in which he would have detailed the profits made from the conflict, including those made by certain local leaders, NGOs involved in peace negotiation, and illegal timber traffickers. As he told CPJ in telephone interviews from prison, “My principle has always been to go to the source for information.”
Conflicting evidence and coerced testimony
Court documents reveal significant inconsistencies regarding evidence and testimony. The gendarmerie claimed that Bassène’s phone had been geolocated in the Boffa Bayotte forest on the day of the murders, alongside those of several of his co-defendants. However, witnesses, including Bassène’s wife and others in the region, confirmed that the journalist was in Ziguinchor, several kilometers from the scene of the massacre. Bassène himself said he learned of the tragedy on the radio, while he was at the football field with a neighbor.
False testimonies under duress and brutal interrogations
Many defendants in the case have disputed the testimony given during their interrogations, claiming they were subjected to torture to force them to sign confessions. Several of them confirmed being mistreated, including Abdou Karim Sagna, another co-defendant, who was interrogated at gunpoint and made to sign falsified statements.
Bassène himself reported being the victim of brutal treatment after his arrest. The gendarmes delayed his interrogation for four days, during which he was physically mistreated. He also said he was subjected to abuse, including beatings and electric shocks. In addition, he was locked in an unsanitary cell and isolated, without access to a lawyer during interrogations.
Questionable emails and accusations of links to the MFDC
The accusation is based in part on emails allegedly sent by Bassène to members of the MFDC. However, he denied any involvement with the movement and disputed the authenticity of some emails presented as evidence. Bassène’s defense team also questioned this evidence, particularly regarding an email sent after his arrest, during which time he had no access to a phone or the internet.
Bassène’s appeal and resistance to injustice
Despite the ordeals and the length of his incarceration, Bassène remains determined to assert his innocence. While awaiting his appeal to the Supreme Court, he continued to devote himself to his intellectual activities in Ziguinchor prison, reading, writing and helping other inmates. He told CPJ: “I am prepared to spend my life in prison, but what I cannot stand is the injustice of being told that I was not arrested because of my work as a prisoner. journalist.”
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