Ivory Coast: Alassane Ouattara pardons Malian MP Mamadou Hawa Gassama

A member of Mali’s National Transitional Council (CNT), Mamadou Hawa Gassama had been sentenced at the end of January by the Abidjan Court of First Instance to three years in prison for an “offense” against the Ivorian head of state.

This conviction followed remarks deemed insulting, broadcast on social media, in which the Malian lawmaker criticized President Alassane Ouattara’s policies and his character.

The court had also imposed a fine of five million CFA francs as well as a ban on his residence in Ivorian territory upon the completion of his sentence.
Arrested in July 2025 during a private stay in Abidjan, Mamadou Hawa Gassama spent more than six months in detention at Abidjan’s Maison d’arrêt et de correction (MACA).

His release came less than two weeks after his conviction, following the signing of a grace decree by the Ivorian head of state.
This measure, described as a clemency gesture by the Malian MP’s defense, ends a judicial case that had drawn the attention of political and diplomatic circles in the subregion.

This comes amid sometimes tense relations between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, marked in recent years by political divergences related to transition processes and regional governance.