MALI COUP AMNESTY CALL

Mali has granted amnesty to the army officers behind the two recent coups.

Last year, Colonel Assimi Goita led a coup that overthrew then president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after weeks of anti-government protests.

Under diplomatic pressure, the army handed power to a civilian-led interim government tasked with steering Mali back to civilian rule.

However, Colonel Goita then deposed interim president Bah Ndaw in May, in a second coup, and became interim president himself.

The National Transitional Council, which serves as an interim parliament, has now given them amnesty.

Souleymane De, the chairman of the legislature’s legal committee, said the new laws meant those involved in the two coups can’t be prosecuted.

Colonel Goita has pledged to respect the February 2022 deadline for civilian elections.