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A court in Mali’s capital Bamako on Monday ended a long-delayed trial of former coup leader Amadou Sanogo, accused of killing 21 elite soldiers in a 2012 coup.
The court, which did not issue a verdict, also ended proceedings against 15 other defendants, citing a 2019 reconciliation law that offers amnesty or clemency for specific crimes committed during the 2012 crisis.
“The court orders that the proceedings against the defendants be terminated,” said the president of the court, Gaoussou Sanou, adding that the defendants must be released.
Unless the prosecution decides to appeal, the decision ends a case that has long embarrassed the Malian government.
A conviction of Sanogo was feared to trigger dissent within the ranks of the army. A former Malian defense minister was also among the accused.
Sanogo, a former army captain, joined several other conspirators in organizing a coup against President Amadou Toumani Touré after an insurgency broke out in northern Mali.
But his junta stepped aside under international pressure after a number of northern cities, including Timbuktu, fell to the rebels.
Since then, jihadists have taken over the northern rebellion and advanced into central Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands.
Sanogo, for his part, was later arrested and then detained for six years on charges of killing 21 elite “red berets” who were seeking to mount a counterattack.
The court’s decision not to press charges against Sanogo will enrage rights defenders in Mali, where the armed forces are often accused of abuses.
“You cannot invoke a law of national agreement to guarantee impunity,” said Aguibou Bouare, president of a Malian human rights NGO, speaking before the decision.
“People will not hesitate to commit horrible crimes and offenses and then fix it by passing a law.”
A case against Sanogo started in 2016 but stalled.
A court then granted Sanogo temporary freedom last year, raising fears among rights defenders and relatives of the dead soldiers that he would avoid facing trial.
Hopes for his conviction were raised last month when attorneys said a court would meet to hear the delayed case. It started last Thursday before stopping on Monday.
Mali’s own government is made up of personalities from the army who launched the most recent coup in the country in August.
Young army officers seized power after weeks of protests against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, before handing him over to an interim government that must rule for 18 months before the elections are held.
The coup leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, serves as interim vice president, for example.
Some senior officials in the interim government also participated in the 2012 coup.
