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A specialised anti-terrorist court in Mali sentenced a French embassy official to 20 years in prison on Thursday for “undermining state security,” according to anonymous judicial sources.
The court held the proceedings behind closed doors, ultimately handing down the long jail term alongside a $6,225 fine and a 20-year ban on entering Mali.
Malian authorities originally arrested the official, identified as Yann V., on August 13 of last year while he was in the company of Malian officers.
The junta subsequently accused those officers of plotting a coup, though the government dismissed them from service without a trial.
At the time, authorities claimed Yann V. worked for French intelligence to help foreign states destabilise the country.
The severe verdict deals a fresh blow to the fragile relationship between the West African nation and its former colonial ruler.
Following the official’s arrest last year, Paris immediately suspended counterterrorism cooperation with Mali and expelled two Malian diplomats.
In response to Thursday’s sentencing, the French foreign ministry fiercely defended the official, demanding his immediate release and lambasting the junta’s claims as “baseless accusations.”
France insisted that the agent was merely executing a legitimate security cooperation mission and denied any direct or indirect involvement in destabilising Mali.
Under junta chief Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a 2021 coup, Mali has steadily severed ties with Western nations—particularly France.
Instead, the administration has pivoted toward Moscow, bringing in Russian mercenaries to help fight a long-running security crisis fuelled by Al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates.
This security situation drastically worsened in April when Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM militants and Tuareg-led rebels launched coordinated attacks against junta positions.
The assaults killed Defence Minister Sadio Camara, the primary architect of Mali’s pivot to Russia, and resulted in the Tuaregs capturing the strategic northern town of Kidal.
