The Bamako Court of Assizes has sentenced a Malian jihadist leader, Souleymane Keita and two other men, all accused of terrorism, to death of Friday.
A dozen men were also sentenced to death in absentia.
They were accused of preaching jihad in southern Mali and on the border between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
During the trial, Keita acknowledged the facts and expressed no regret for his actions because according to him, their fight was against the secularism of the Malian state.
Concerning his links with his accomplices, Keita explained that he had approached them to mount large-scale operations.
His two accomplices, Boubacar Sawadogo, 51, and Moussa Maïga, 33, belong to the branch of Ansar Dine in Burkina Faso, their country of origin, he explained.
Keita, in his 60s, was accused of having, since 2012, fought in Konna, in the region of Mopti, in central Mali, attacked and ransacked the military camp of Misséni and the town of Fakola, in the region of Sikasso, southern Mali.
