Ten men had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The defense of four defendants convicted of the jihadist attack in the seaside town of Grand-Bassam in Côte d'Ivoire, which killed 19 people in 2016, has decided to appeal this judgment, announced on Monday January 9, at AFP, one of their lawyers.
"We are appealing the conviction of the four defendants who were present" during the trial, said this lawyer, Me Éric Saki.
"Those who have been convicted in absentia have no possibility of appeal," he added.
First jihadist attack on Ivorian soil
The Abidjan Assize Court sentenced ten defendants to life imprisonment on December 28, including six in absentia, for their role in this first jihadist attack ever committed in Côte d'Ivoire on March 13, 2016. Eight defendants, absent from the trial, had been acquitted.
All were accused of "terrorist acts, assassination, attempted assassination, concealment of criminals, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition of war and complicity in the said acts".
Three young assailants had gone up the beach of Grand-Bassam, very frequented by foreigners, then stormed several restaurants, firing Kalashnikovs at customers on the terrace before being shot dead by the Ivorian security forces.
Four French among the victims
Claimed by the branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi), this jihadist attack, the first to occur in Côte d'Ivoire, had killed 19 people, including four French.
It had been perpetrated in retaliation for the anti-jihadist operations Serval and Barkhane carried out by France and its allies in the Sahel region.
It also targeted Côte d'Ivoire, which had delivered members of AQIM to the Malian authorities.
Nine Ivorians, a Lebanese, a German, a Macedonian, a Malian, a Nigerian and an unidentified person were also killed in the attack and 33 people of various nationalities injured.
With AFP
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