A French intelligence agent with diplomatic status, detained for nearly 10 months in Mali, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "endangering state security", AFP learned Friday from judicial sources. “Unfounded accusations” reaffirmed the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, after the announcement of the judgment.
Published on: 05/06/2026 - 19:46Modified on: 05/06/2026 - 20:06
He was arrested in August 2025 and accused of conspiracy against institutions. Malian justice has sentenced a French intelligence agent with diplomatic status, in detention for nearly 10 months in the capital, Bamako, to 20 years in prison for "undermining state security" in this Sahelian country led by a military regime, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned Friday from judicial sources.
The Frenchman is also banned from entering Mali for 20 years and must pay a fine of 5,400 euros, a judicial source told AFP, confirmed by two other judicial sources. The trial took place on Thursday before the criminal chamber of the specialized counter-terrorism unit and the judgment was announced on Friday, according to the same sources.
Arrested by State Security
The Frenchman, identified as Yann V., was arrested during an operation carried out by State Security (SE), the Malian intelligence services.
Officially assigned to the French embassy in Bamako, the French officer was arrested in the company of several officers of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa).
The latter, since removed, have still not been tried. They are accused of having set up a network of espionage and conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the institutions of the Malian transition with a view to perpetrating a coup d'état.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced "unfounded accusations" and requested the "release without delay" of its national.
In response to the arrest of its agent, France also, in the following days, suspended its anti-terrorism cooperation with Mali and ordered two Malian diplomats to leave its territory.
Also read: France suspends its anti-terrorism cooperation with Mali and expels two diplomats
“Unfounded accusations”
On Friday, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs again rejected "unfounded accusations" in reacting to the announcement of the judgment.
“Our agent is the subject of legal proceedings including unfounded accusations,” affirmed the Quai d'Orsay, repeating its position stated since the arrest in August 2025 of this Frenchman working at the French embassy in Bamako. “Our agent was carrying out a security cooperation mission and in no case did France participate, directly or indirectly, in the destabilization of Mali.”
Faced since 2012 with a deep security crisis fueled in particular by the violence of jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) organization, as well as community criminal groups, Mali is led by a military junta, which came to power after two coups in 2020 and 2021.
The authorities in Bamako have since turned away from their Western partners, notably the former colonizer France, to turn politically and militarily towards Russia.
On April 25, the country was targeted by large-scale terrorist attacks, including in Bamako and Kati, which cost the life of Defense Minister Sadio Camara.
Read alsoMalian military justice opens an investigation following the attacks of April 25
With AFP
Keywords associated with the article
The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.
