After an indictment lasting more than two hours, Wednesday, in Abidjan, the public prosecutor, Richard Adou, requested life imprisonment, “an exemplary and dissuasive sentence”, for the four defendants in the jihadist attack on Grand-Bassam, including the four physically present at the trial that began in late November. He also asked for the maximum sentence for six other people, on the run or detained in Mali, whom he presented as certain “brains” of the operation. Finally, for the other eight defendants tried on disclosure, he left the choice of sentence to the defendant in the Court.
All are accused of “terrorist acts, murder, attempted murder, concealment of criminals, illegal possession of weapons For fire and munitions of war and complicity in the aforementioned acts”. , particularly in identification, which they deny.
“We must discourage followers of these terrorist acts,” the prosecutor said during his arraignment. On March 13, 2016, three young assailants went up to Grand-Bassam beach, which is very popular with foreigners, and broke into several restaurants, firing Kalashnikovs at customers on the terrace before being shot dead by security forces. Claimed by the branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi), this jihadist attack, the first to occur in Côte d'Ivoire, killed 19 people.
“Terror and Barbarism”
During the trial, many witnesses to the attack, including the owner of one of the targeted hotels and a member of the special forces who shot the attackers, came to tell the story of March 13, 2016 on the stand.
“The situation of March 13, 2016 remains unforgettable. We were confronted with horror and barbarity”, launched Richard Adou during his indictment. “In the name of what can one assume the quality of taking the lives of others because of their opinions? It's an attack on the Coast ivory, for his part, he defended the lawyer for the civil parties, Amadou Camara.
In addition to the four Frenchmen, nine Ivorians, a Lebanese, a German, a Macedonian, a Malian, a Nigerian and an unidentified person were killed during the attack and 33 people of various nationalities were injured.
In January 2017, soldiers from the French Barkhane force captured one of the main suspects, Mimi Ould Baba Ould Cheikh, considered by Côte d'Ivoire authorities as one of the masterminds of the attack, and by Burkinabé authorities as the attack's “chief of operations”. . another attack that left 30 people dead in Ouagadougou in January 2016.
In retaliation to Serval and Barkhane
Perpetrated in retaliation for the Serval and Barkhane anti-jihadist operations carried out by France and its allies in the Sahel region, the attack on Grand-Bassam also targeted Ivory Coast, which handed over members of AQIM to Malian authorities.
In 2020 and 2021, defense and security forces were the target of deadly attacks attributed to jihadist groups in northern Côte d'Ivoire, which, however, has not seen further attacks against civilians since Grand Bassam.
The attack severely tested the country's tourism sector, already weakened by the 2010-2011 post-election crisis that left around 3,000 people dead. The verdict is expected this Thursday 22 December.
(with AFP)
