Mali’s military junta leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, forgave the 49 Ivorian soldiers found guilty of undermining Mali’s state security and conspiracy against the government on Friday.
The 49 soldiers were arrested in July on their way to work for Sahelian Aviation Services, a private company contracted to work in Mali by the United Nations.
The pardon came after one week the 46 soldiers were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The three women who had been freed in early September were tried in absentia and sentenced to death.
Mali’s military junta granted this pardon with full remission of sentences to the 49 Ivoirians convicted by the Malian court.
The military junta meets with the ECOWAS delegation at the Ministry of Defense in Bamako, Mali.