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New CPJ podcast reveals torture, coerced testimony in case of jailed Senegalese journalist René Capain Bassène

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New CPJ podcast reveals torture, coerced testimony in case of jailed Senegalese journalist René Capain Bassène

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Dakar, May 4, 2026—A new podcast released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) presents extensive new testimony and reporting on the conviction of Senegalese journalist and author René Capain Bassène, raising serious questions about the integrity of a case that has become one of West Africa’s most emblematic press freedom concerns.

The six-part series, “René Capain Bassène, wrongly convicted,” is produced in Wolof and French and is available globally. It draws on first-hand accounts, including interviews with former co-defendants, as well as testimony from Bassène himself.

Bassène is currently serving a life sentence for the killing of 14 men in January 2018 in the Bayottes forest in Senegal’s Casamance region. The podcast follows a decision by Senegal’s Supreme Court to uphold Bassène’s life sentence, despite concerns about due process violations and the use of coerced testimony.

“Beyond his outrageous conviction, this podcast shows how René Capain Bassène spent much of his career fighting against being alternately labeled a rebel and a state spy, when all he wanted was to report independently to help resolve a conflict of which he was a direct victim,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative and podcast host. “His fate illustrates the need to protect local journalists whose commitment to shedding light on security crises exposes them to the most severe reprisals.” 

CPJ’s 2025 investigation and the podcast reveal significant inconsistencies in how responsibility for the attack was assigned. Several former co-defendants describe being arrested, detained for years, and coerced to falsely incriminate Bassène. Testimony cited in the series details allegations of beatings and electric shocks during interrogations. 

In addition, César Atoute Badiate, the exiled leader of a major faction of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), speaks for the first time since 2018 to deny prosecution claims that Bassène acted as the group’s spokesperson and masterminded the killings by inciting Badiate to carry out the massacre.

The podcast also reconstructs the events leading up to the killings, including tensions between local vigilante committees and illegal logging networks operating in the region at the time. Residents, including village officials such as Ibou Sané, who was detained for more than four years before being released, describe how local efforts to stop deforestation were later linked by investigators to the massacre, forming part of the case against Bassène.

In one of the most detailed accounts to date, Bassène describes his arrest in the early hours of January 14, 2018, when heavily armed, masked gendarmes entered his home. He recounts being beaten, handcuffed, and taken into custody without explanation, while his family was subjected to intimidation.

Further testimony presented in the podcast raises concerns about the reliability of Bassène’s alleged confession. According to CPJ’s reporting, statements attributed to him in official records contain factual inconsistencies and references to events that contradict established timelines.

Bassène has consistently denied the charges against him, maintaining that he was at a football match at the time of the incident. His work as a journalist, particularly his reporting on the long-running separatist conflict in Casamance and his contacts within the MFDC, were cited by prosecutors as evidence of his alleged role — a characterization that press freedom advocates say reflects a broader pattern of criminalizing journalists who report on armed groups.

In reality, Bassène’s efforts to warn authorities of the increasing risk of an attack on the illegal loggers — knowledge gleaned from researching his fourth book on the conflict and his extensive contacts — were not considered by the Senegalese courts. 

CPJ urges Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye to right a monumental miscarriage of justice by releasing Bassène on the occasion of Eid al-Adha on May 27, 2026, and has launched a public petition in support.

The podcast, produced in Wolof and French, is available globally on major platforms. The podcast is accompanied by English-language resources to make the investigation accessible to international audiences.

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About the Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

Media contact: [email protected]

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