A court in Mali has sentenced a French national to 20 years in prison for undermining state security. The individual was accused by Mali's military-led government of involvement in a plot to destabilize the country last year.
The defendant, Yann V., was officially registered with Malian authorities as an agent of France's foreign intelligence service, the DGSE. He was arrested in Bamako in August 2025, accused of attempting to orchestrate a destabilization attempt against the junta led by General Assimi Goïta.
This ruling further strains already fraught relations between the West African junta-led state and its former colonial ruler, France. Under junta chief Assimi Goita, Mali has turned its back on the West in favor of closer ties with Russia.