Mali’s military leader has released 49 Ivory Coast troops who were detained in July and accused of being mercenaries, according to a statement from the Malian government.
Following their arrival at Mali’s Bamako airport, the 49 were held. The soldiers, according to Ivory Coast, were assigned to a UN-contracted private company as part of a peacekeeping mission in Mali.
A diplomatic controversy between Mali and Ivory Coast resulted from the soldiers’ detention and charges.
The pardon granted by the President of Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita, “demonstrates once again his commitment to peace, dialogue, pan-Africanism, and the preservation of fraternal and secular relations with regional countries, in particular those between Mali and Ivory Coast,” according to a statement from the Mali government’s spokesman, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga.
The widespread amnesty comes a week after 46 Ivorian soldiers were given 20 years in prison. Three other defendants, all female, who had been released in September but were put on trial in absentia, had all received death sentences.
According to a statement made at the time by public prosecutor, Ladji Sara, the 49 were found guilty of “attack and conspiracy against the government” and attempting to compromise state security. The trial began on December 29 2022 and ended the following day in the nation’s capital, Bamako.
In a message issued to the Malian government following the arrest of the Ivorian soldiers, the UN acknowledged some procedural “dysfunctions” and claimed that “some measures had not been followed” in their deployment to Mali.
The entry of the Ivorian military in Mali was also accompanied by “shortcomings and misunderstandings,” as the Ivorian presidency admitted in September.
The president’s dedication to good governance and “maintaining fraternal connections” with countries in the area, particularly Ivory Coast, was symbolized by the action, which was termed as a “independent choice” in a statement released on Friday. The soldiers would, however, be released from prison at an unknown date.
The administration of Ivory Coast did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has previously claimed that its troops are hostages and has pleaded repeatedly for their release. Authorities in Ivory Coast had previously warned that “consequences” would follow the “hostage-taking.”
Since military officers overthrew the government in 2020 and broke their electoral promises, Mali has been more and more isolated, leading to sanctions from the Economic Community of West African States, the primary political and economic bloc in West Africa.
Due to the military government’s cooperation with Russian mercenaries, some nations, including Ivory Coast, have chosen to withdraw soldiers assigned to help combat a decade-old insurrection in Mali this year.
The government of Mali has been increasingly hostile toward ECOWAS, which had also threatened to put additional penalties on Mali if the Ivorian soldiers were not released.
On Thursday, Goita was greeted by Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe in Bamako before he left for Ivory Coast to mediate the conflict. The Malian government commended Gnassingbe “for his tireless efforts and constant commitment to dialogue and peace in the region,” in a statement released on Friday.
The leader of ECOWAS, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, was also criticized for his “aggressive position” in the statement.
Goita overthrew the transitional government’s president and prime minister in two coups that took place in Mali in 2020 and the next year, respectively.
