The proceedings against Amadou Sanogo have been declared “extinct” in Mali. The Assize Court of Bamako announced this Monday morning, March 15. The 2012 putschist captain, now a general, is therefore completely free.
Amadou Sanogo is no longer on trial for the murder of 21 red beret soldiers found in a mass grave near Bamako. The same is true for his co-defendants. This does not mean that they have been declared innocent or acquitted, but that there is no longer a trial.
Shortly after nine o’clock on Monday morning, when the defendants entered the courtroom of the Bamako Court of Appeal, General Amadou Sanogo was clearly recognizable: wearing a suit and dark glasses, he smiled, as if he was expecting the good news. After the usual formalities, the president of the court took the floor and announced the end of the proceedings.
His decision was motivated by the law of national understanding. This law, voted in 2019 by the National Assembly and promulgated under the former regime, allows in the context of national reconciliation to stop, in certain cases, prosecution of persons accused of crimes against, in particular, the compensation of victims or their relatives.
In the trial against General Amadou Sanogo and his co-defendants, several relatives of victims have already received compensation. Their lawyer was not even present in court on Monday.
The case against the defendants is therefore over, and they have gone free. The fact remains that the case has not yet been fully investigated and that Malian justice has not yet made it possible to determine exactly how the 21 red beret soldiers were murdered in 2012 before being found in a mass grave.
The public prosecutor has three days to file an appeal if he opposes the court’s decision.