Mali: French Diplomat sentenced to 20 years in prison
11 months after his arrest by the Malian authorities, Lieutenant-Colonel Yann Vézilier was sentenced to 20 years in prison on June 5th, as reported by RFI and agencies on June 8th.
The French military agent was also sentenced to pay a 3,600,000 CFA francs fine, as well as one symbolic franc to the Malian government.
The government accused Vézilier of mobilising actors of civil society and generals of the Abass Dembele and Nema Sagara brigade to destabilise the institutions of the Republic.
The French Foreign Affairs Ministry has contested the accusations held against Vézilier, who is also the second secretary to the French embassy in Bamako. Paris denied all accusations, calling them unfounded.
Vézilier was present in Mali under his real identity and was officially accredited as an officer from the DGSE, the French foreign intelligence service. His role as second secretary at the French embassy should theoretically have conferred on him diplomatic immunity.
Diplomatic relations between France and Mali have worsened since the coup by General Assimi Goïta in 2020.
Mali and its Sahel allies, Burkina Faso and Niger, have turned away from France to prioritise relations with Russia, but have kept a faint relationship relating to exchanging intelligence and information.
Vézilier was in Bamako as part of a discreet operation of intelligence gathering for the DGSE, which notably shared some technical information with Malian authorities.
According to RFI, the arrest represents a clear sign and message from Bamako to Paris, officially showing that any French presence considered intrusive or suspect in Mali will be considered a threat to its sovereignty.
Since the end of Operation Barkhane, the French-led military counterinsurgency campaign that ran from August 2014 to November 2022, to combat Islamist militant groups in Africa’s Sahel region, Franco-Malian relations have visibly deteriorated, creating diplomatic strains and uncertainties.
Malian generals accused of collaborating with Vézilier are waiting to be judged by the military court.
A diplomatic exit for Vézilier seems difficult, even if Paris continues to claim his liberation and denounce violations of diplomatic rights.
RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org
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