Africa-Press. The President of Senegal, Bissau Diomai Faye, granted a pardon to journalist René Kaban Basin, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022 for his alleged role in the killing of 14 woodcutters in the Kazamance region.
According to an independent source, the journalist was released in Dakar the day after the presidential decision.
René Kaban Basin was convicted on charges of complicity in murder, attempted murder, and forming a criminal gang in the case of the Bofa Bayot massacre that occurred on January 6, 2018, in the southern part of the country.
However, the source stated that the investigation and judicial proceedings were “marred by serious flaws.”
The organization noted that several defendants who were later acquitted confirmed that they had been pressured to convict the journalist or to sign false statements.
René Kaban Basin is known as one of the prominent journalists in Senegal, having dedicated most of his career to covering the separatist conflict in Kazamance, and he has authored several books on the issue.
The region has been experiencing an armed conflict since the 1980s between the state and separatists affiliated with the “Movement of Democratic Forces of Kazamance,” although the intensity of the fighting has decreased in recent years, with sporadic violence continuing.
The Bofa Bayot massacre caused widespread shock in the country, as 14 woodcutters were killed inside a protected forest in Kazamance.
The “Movement of Democratic Forces of Kazamance” has been accused of being behind the attack, which the rebel group has consistently denied.
Two alleged members of the movement, along with René Kaban Basin, were sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.
