Senegal's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a ban on repatriating the bodies of citizens living abroad who have died of coronavirus, rejecting a plea from their distraught relatives. A group of families with dead relatives abroad had sought to overturn the ban on the grounds that it violated their right to mourn and practise religion in the Muslim-majority West African country. Senegal's government had ruled out bringing back the bodies to stem the spread of the virus. Family members have said that around 80 Senegalese have died from COVID-19 overseas, including 40 in France alone. On Thursday, their lawyers said that the Supreme Court's decision had caused deep distress. They had argued during the proceedings that the health risk of bringing back bodies was "non-existent," and that the ban infringed religious rights. lal/mrb/eml/ach