Forty-six Ivorian soldiers suspected of being “mercenaries” and detained in Mali since July were sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for “attack and conspiracy against the government” and “undermining the external security of the state,” Prosecutor General Ladji Sara said in a statement.
Three Ivorian female soldiers released in early September by the Malian authorities were sentenced to death in absentia.
The trial was held on Thursday and Friday in Bamako, ahead of the expiry of an ultimatum set by West African heads of state to the Malian junta to release the 46 soldiers still imprisoned.
It took place behind closed doors at the Bamako Court of Appeal, one week after a visit by an official Ivorian delegation -in a “fraternal” spirit – that ended with the signing of a memorandum.
The content of the discussions concerning the detained soldiers had not been made public, but Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop spoke to the press of an “unfortunate incident,” while the Ivorian Defence Minister Téné Birahima Ouattara referred to a “misunderstanding.”
The agreement reached between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire last week still leaves open the possibility of a presidential pardon by the head of the Malian junta, Assimi Goïta, who is due to deliver an end-of-year address to the nation on Saturday.
