By ZR Reporter
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says the murder conviction of René Capain Bassène, a journalist who was arrested eight days after the 2018 massacre of 14 loggers who were shot to death in the Bayotte Forest in the southern Casamance area of Senegal, has flaws and inconsistencies.
Mr Bassène was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 for complicity in murder, attempted murder, and criminal association.
But according to the investigation carried out by CPJ, witnesses said the journalist in question could not have committed any of the mentioned crimes.
“In late 2024, CPJ’s review of court documents and interviews with Bassène, his co-accused, and witnesses found that the investigation into the journalist was severely flawed. Several who were subsequently acquitted told CPJ that they were forced to implicate the journalist or sign inaccurate interview records,” a report from the Committee indicated.
CPJ also found that the investigation relied on inconsistent evidence regarding Bassène’s whereabouts on the day of the killings and reasons to doubt the authenticity of emails purportedly sent by him.
“Bassène said he was mistreated in custody; medical documents describe an injury to his ear as a result of trauma,” revealed the report.
“According to Sané, secretary of the southern Senegalese village of Toubacouta in Casamance’s main city of Ziguinchor, the only time he had ever spoken to Bassène was when Bassène called him on the day of the massacre to ask for information about the killings.”
The Committee added that at the time, Bassène was close to finishing his fourth book on the conflict between Senegalese government forces and the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).
CPJ said one appeal court upheld his sentence in 2024 adding that a second appeal against his conviction is currently with Senegal’s Supreme Court.
“CPJ’s investigation also found new information linking Bassène’s imprisonment to his work, with court documents showing that prosecutors cited Bassène’s reporting activities, including phone calls and emails, before and after the killings in arguments for his conviction,” read the report.
“These details led to his inclusion as the only Senegalese journalist in CPJ’s 2024 census of media members jailed around the world. Senegal, which elected a new reform-promising president and parliament in 2024, was listed among the top five jailers of journalists in Africa in CPJ’s 2023 census.”
The full investigative report on this link: https://cpj.org/2025/01/cpj-finds-flaws-inconsistencies-in-murder-conviction-of-senegalese-journalist-rene-capain-bassene/