🔴 Mali pardons French official Yann ​Vézilier, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison

A French ​national sentenced ​in Mali to 20 years in prison ​has ‌been pardoned ⁠by the West ‌African country's President Assimi Goïta, ⁠an official statement showed on Thursday. Yann ​Vézilier, an official from the French embassy, was ‌accused by Mali's military-led government of involvement ‌in a plot ​to destabilise the country last year. "This act of clemency, which does not call into question the facts established by an adversarial judgment rendered during a trial, where all rights of the defence were respected, is accompanied by the immediate removal of the individual from national territory," the Malian government said in a statement posted to Facebook. The French ​foreign ministry ​didn't immediately ​reply to a request for ​comment from Reuters. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)