By Kevin Akor
ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (chatnewstv.com) — An Ivorian court on Friday sentenced a Malian lawmaker to three years in prison for insulting President Alassane Ouattara, deepening strains between Côte d’Ivoire and Mali amid already tense regional relations.
Mamadou Hawa Gassama, a member of Mali’s transitional parliament, was convicted after referring to Ouattara as an “enemy of Mali” during a media interview in September 2022.
The Abidjan court also imposed a three-year ban on Gassama’s residence in Côte d’Ivoire following the completion of his prison term and ordered him to pay a fine. He was prosecuted on charges of insulting a foreign head of state and disseminating offensive expressions online.
“We believe that this decision is, first of all, excessive; it is serious, and it is very severe,” Gassama’s lawyer, Mamadou Ismaila Konate, told reporters after the ruling.
Gassama was arrested in July after entering Côte d’Ivoire and had been held in detention pending trial.
Relations between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire have been strained since military coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021 brought Gen. Assimi Goita to power in Bamako. Ouattara has been a vocal critic of the coups, which have unsettled several countries across West Africa’s Sahel region.
Ouattara, who won reelection to a fourth term in October 2025, has repeatedly called for a return to constitutional order in Mali and other junta-led states.
Gassama is known for his outspoken views and previously served as an opposition lawmaker during the presidency of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was overthrown in the 2020 coup.
