Two men, M. Sy, alias "Ndjiol," and H. Ndiompy, known as "Parisien," appeared before the Dakar Criminal Court on Tuesday. After nearly five years of pretrial detention, they are charged with murder involving acts of torture and barbarity. The verdict is expected on April 14.

According to Les Échos, which covered the hearing, the events date back to September 1, 2021. The body of the victim, Wally Koita, was discovered near a garbage dump close to the former Léopold Sédar Senghor Airport. The autopsy concluded that death was caused by internal bleeding resulting from blows inflicted with hard, blunt objects, including craniospinal injuries. The motive for this outburst of violence? A simple, allegedly stolen cell phone.

Shocking testimony

The investigation relies heavily on the statements of an eyewitness, A. Touré. He gave a chilling account to investigators: according to him, the two accused tied up, beat, and then tortured the victim until he died, before dragging his body to the dump. He specified that it was "Ndjiol" who retrieved the rope to bind the deceased, while handing a stick to "Parisien" to continue striking him. Even more seriously, the witness claims that it was "Ndjiol" who stole H. Ndiompy's cell phone before framing Wally Koita, thus provoking the fatal fight.

Conflicting accounts in court

In court, the same source reports, the two defendants gave contradictory accounts. Ndiompy admitted to striking the victim several times—with his fists, a stone, and a stick—while claiming he acted under the influence of alcohol and maintaining that Sy had given him the stick to "teach Wally Koita a lesson." For his part, Mr. Sy, a shopkeeper in Ouakam, maintained he never participated in the assault, claiming he intervened only after hearing shouts.

20 years old required

The prosecution dismissed the excuse of intoxication, designating the two men as direct co-perpetrators of the fatal blows. The prosecutor thus requested 20 years' imprisonment for each of them, while asking that the circumstance of barbarity be dismissed. The defense, for its part, pleaded for acquittal, citing a lack of formal evidence of culpability, particularly for Sy, whose lawyer argued that he was being judged solely on his reputation as a "boudiouman" (a scavenger).