While the Malian justice condemned, Friday, December 30, the 46 Ivorian soldiers detained since last July in Bamako, to 20 years of criminal imprisonment, the Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara assured that these soldiers will soon be back in their country.
« My thoughts go particularly to the place of our soldiers detained in Mali since July 10, 2022. Thanks to the diplomatic actions undertaken with the support of leaders of several friendly countries, in particular the President of the Togolese Republic, His Excellency Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, three female soldiers were released last September. The 46 other soldiers will soon return to Ivorian soil”, declared President Alassane Ouattara during his address to the nation on the occasion of the New Year.
Mali had qualified the 46 soldiers concerned as « mercenaries », because they had landed at Bamako airport without a mission order and would have presented themselves, according to the Malian authorities, under false identities. This incident has blurred diplomatic relations between Abidjan and Bamako. But on December 22, an agreement was reached between the two parties for the release of the 46 soldiers.
The sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment, pronounced by the Court of Appeal of Bamako after two days of hearing, is accompanied by a fine of 2 million CFA francs (more than 3 thousand dollars) each. The soldiers were declared guilty of « attack and conspiracy against the government », « undermining the external security of the State », « possession, carrying and transport of weapons and munitions of war (…) having for purpose of disturbing public order by intimidation or terror”.
The Court also condemned in absentia the three women who belonged to this group of soldiers and who had been released in September, to the death penalty and a fine of ten million (about 16 thousand dollars) each, for the same alleged offences.
West African heads of state had given an ultimatum to the military junta in power in Mali to release the 46 soldiers before January 1, 2023, but the Malian justice condemned them before the end of the deadline.
According to some observers, the possibility for the release of the 46 soldiers is not definitively ruled out because they can benefit from a presidential pardon in Mali.
By OMA Newsletter N° 1001 of 02/01/2023
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
