Malian transitional president Assimi Goita has pardoned 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested in July last year, a government statement has said.

Goita granted a pardon with full remission of sentences to the 49 Ivorians convicted by the Malian justice system, said the statement released on Friday from government spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga.

The Ivorian soldiers were arrested on July 10, 2022, at Bamako International Airport. On Dec. 30, 46 soldiers were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, while the other three soldiers, all women, who had been freed in September, were sentenced to death.

Mali’s ruling junta said the soldiers were acting as mercenaries, while Cote d’Ivoire said they were part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

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Source: The Namibian Press Agency