Mali junta chief pardons detained Ivorian troopers

Mali’s army junta chief, Colonel Assimi Goita, pardoned the 49 Ivorian troopers convicted of undermining Mali’s state safety and conspiracy in opposition to the federal government on Friday.

The pardon comes one week after 46 of the troopers have been sentenced to twenty years in jail. The three girls who had been freed early September have been tried in absentia and sentenced to demise.

Authorities spokesperson, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, shared the information on nationwide Malian tv

“His Excellency Col. Assimi Goita, President of the Transition, Head of State granted his pardon with full remission of sentences to the 49 Ivoirians convicted by the Malian courts”

This gesture by colonel Goita is prompted as a method to maintain the peace between the neighboring nations

“This gesture, which as soon as once more, demonstrates his attachment to peace, dialogue, pan-Africanism, and the preservation of fraternal and secular relations with the nations of the area,” added Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga. 

The 49 troopers have been detained in July once they went to work for Sahelian Aviation Providers, a non-public firm contracted to work in Mali by the United Nations. A January 1rst deadline set by ECOWAS for Mali to launch the troopers was missed however ECOWAS determined to not sanction the nation.