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Colonel Asimi Goyta, the leader of Mali’s military junta, granted amnesty on Friday to 49 Ivory Coast soldiers convicted of undermining Mali’s national security and conspiring against the government.
The amnesty came a week after 46 soldiers were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Her three women, released in early September, were tried in absentia and sentenced to death.
A government spokesperson, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, shared the news on Mali’s national television.
“Hr Excellency Colonel Asimi Goyita, Transitional President and Head of State, has granted full immunity from sentence to 49 Ivorian citizens convicted by the courts of Mali.”
This gesture by Colonel Goita has been prompted as a way to keep peace between neighboring countries.
“This gesture reiterates his love for peace, dialogue, pan-Africanism and maintaining fraternal and secular relations with the countries of the region,” added Colonel Abdullah Maigah.
Forty-nine soldiers were detained in July as they went to work for Sahelian Aviation Services, a private company that the United Nations has a contract to work for in Mali. Although he failed to meet his January 1 deadline set by ECOWAS for Mali to release soldiers, ECOWAS decided not to sanction the country.
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