Mali / Ivory Coast: Special hearing for the 46 soldiers?
The 46 Ivorian soldiers arrested in Mali since 10 July could be tried in a special hearing on Thursday 29 December 2022.
The case of Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali, continuation and not end. The soldiers charged last August for “attempted attack on the external security of the State” by the Public Prosecutor of the Specialized Judicial Pole of the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime at the High Court of Commune VI in Bamako, could be tried in a special session on Thursday 29 December.
The indictment chamber of the Bamako Court of Appeal has referred the case of these special detainees for trial. Coincidentally or not, the decision of the Indictment Division of the Court of Appeal, referring the case for trial comes less than a week after the visit to Bamako of an Ivorian delegation led by the Minister of State, Minister of Defence, Brehima Téné Ouattara.
During this trip, the younger brother of the Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara signed a memorandum with the Malian authorities to “promote peace, also, work to strengthen relations of friendship and good neighbourliness between the two countries to converge in a positive dynamic to overcome this event. But according to the Malian Foreign Minister, the settlement of this dispute must be done “with respect for the legal procedures underway”.
For the crime targeted by the Malian justice system, the 46 Ivorian soldiers risk a criminal sentence of ten to twenty years. A heavy sentence which, if pronounced against the soldiers, could further aggravate relations between Bamako and Abidjan. However, the two capitals are resolutely committed to a peaceful settlement of this case.
According to several observers, this scenario will be avoided by re-characterising the facts in order to obtain a sentence that covers the length of time the defendants have been in pre-trial detention.
However, a West African jurist argues that such a plan risks losing face with the Malian junta, which from the beginning has clung to the thesis of “destabilization of the transition”. Abidjan refutes this accusation, saying that the soldiers in question belong to the army and went to Mali as part of a UN mission.
Miss OLY
