Bamako, Oct. 29, (dpa/GNA) – A court in Mali has sentenced to death two terrorists for their involvement in 2015 attacks on a hotel and restaurant in Mali, the Justice Ministry said Wednesday.
Fawaz Ould Ahmed, also known as “Ibrahim 10,” and his accomplice Sadou Chaka stood trial on Tuesday and Wednesday behind closed doors in a criminal court in Bamako, ministry advisor Daouda Kamate told dpa.
The court found both defendants guilty of organizing the attack on the La Terrasse bar and restaurant in Bamako during which five people were killed as well as an attack and hostage-taking at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, which caused 20 deaths, according to Kamate.
“The court has sentenced both men to death and a fine of 10 million CFA [about 16,000 dollars],” said Kamate.
Ould Ahmed, who is believed to one of the masterminds behind the attacks that were targeted at Westeners, was captured by security and intelligence services in Bamako in April 2016.
He is a member of Al Mourabitoun, a militant group linked to terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which in 2015 claimed the attack on La Terrasse, describing it as revenge for French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.
Ould Ahmed is also accused of having been involved in an attack on Hotel Byblos in the Malian town of Sevare, which killed 17 people, as well as attacks on a restaurant in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou and a beach resort town in Ivory Coast that left dozens dead in 2016.
GNA