The criminal court of Abidjan on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment eleven of the 18 defendants for the first terrorist attack in the history of Côte d’Ivoire which left 19 dead and around 30 injured in March 2016 in Grand-Bassam in the southeast of the country, 30 kilometers from Abidjan.
Among the eleven convicted are the four defendants present at the trial, namely the driver who conveyed the weapons, the man who scouted the scene and two other people who hosted the terrorist commando.
The four defendants claimed their innocence, denying the facts.
Seven other defendants, absent at trial, who are on the run or in detention in Mali, were also sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia. Among them are the presumed masterminds of the operation, named Kounta Dalla and Ould Baba.
The facts date back to March 13, 2016, when three assailants opened fire on the beach and hotels in the seaside town of Grand-Bassam, killing 19 people and injuring around thirty others.
The attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi). Nine Ivorians, four French, one Lebanese, one German, one Macedonian, one Malian, one Nigerian and one unidentified person are among the 19 victims.
