Mali Lawmaker Sentenced to Three Years in Ivory Coast Over Remarks About President Ouattara

A Malian lawmaker was sentenced to three years in prison in Ivory Coast after being found guilty of insulting President Alassane Ouattara. The ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two West African neighbours have come to light as a result of this decision.

In July, Mamadou Hawa Gassama was arrested in Abidjan while en route to Ivory Coast. The military-led government of Mali established a transitional parliament, of which Gassama is a member. The prosecution accused him of using social media and interviews to make disparaging comments about the president of Ivory Coast.

Court documents state that Gassama publicly criticised President Ouattara’s leadership and referred to the 84-year-old as a “tyrant” and a “enemy of Mali.” The region has seen mixed reactions to Ouattara’s recent election to a fourth term in office.

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Diplomatic Tensions Between Mali and Ivory Coast

Relations between Mali and Ivory Coast have remained strained since Mali’s military seized power in a 2020 coup. President Ouattara, a close ally of France, has been an outspoken critic of military takeovers in West Africa, a position that has put him at odds with Mali’s junta-led authorities.

Despite the high-profile nature of the case, Mali’s government in Bamako has not publicly commented on Gassama’s arrest or conviction since he was detained last year.

Speaking after the ruling, Gassama’s lawyer, Mamadou Ismaila Konate, described the sentence as disproportionate. “We believe this decision is excessive and extremely severe,” he said, according to AFP.

Prosecutors argued that the lawmaker’s statements crossed the line from political criticism into deliberate attempts to undermine Ivorian state institutions and fuel hostility between the two countries.

The case has revived memories of a major diplomatic dispute in 2022, when Malian authorities sentenced 49 Ivorian soldiers to 20 years in prison for allegedly threatening state security. Ivory Coast denied the charges, insisting the soldiers were deployed to Mali as part of a United Nations mission combating Islamist militants. The troops were later released following mediation efforts led by Togo.

Since then, Mali’s military leadership has overseen the withdrawal of both the UN peacekeeping mission and French forces, which were first deployed in 2013 to counter a growing jihadist insurgency.

In place of Western military support, Mali has moved to strengthen ties with Russia, bringing in Russian mercenaries as insecurity continues to spread across large parts of the Sahel region.