The Malian Navy Council pardons 49 troopers from Côte d’Ivoire whose arrest sparked a diplomatic row
Mali’s army junta chief on Friday pardoned all 49 Cote d’Ivoire troopers whose arrest in July sparked a bitter diplomatic row, a authorities spokesman mentioned, only a week after courts dominated on them.
“Colonel Asimi Goita…has granted amnesty, with full pardon, to 49 Ivorian nationals convicted by the Malian justice system,” mentioned a press release issued by authorities spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization.
On December 30, 46 troopers have been sentenced to twenty years in jail, whereas three girls have been sentenced to dying among the many unique 49 troopers launched in early September.
The trial opened within the capital, Bamako, on December 29 and concluded the following day.
The trial proceedings got here within the run-up to a Jan. 1 deadline set by West African leaders for Mali to launch the troopers or face sanctions.
Prosecutor Ladji Sara mentioned in a press release on the time that the Ivorians had been discovered responsible of “attacking and plotting in opposition to the federal government” and looking for to undermine state safety.
(AFP)
