A French national, described as an intelligence operative with diplomatic status, has been handed a 20-year prison sentence by Malian courts. Detained in Bamako since August 2025, he was found guilty of undermining state security, according to judicial sources.
The verdict was delivered on Thursday following a trial before the criminal chamber of the specialised counter-terrorism unit. Alongside the prison term, the defendant, identified as Yann V., received a 20-year ban from entering Mali and was ordered to pay a fine of 5,400 euros.
Malian authorities stated that the individual was arrested on 13 August 2025 during an operation by the State Security service, the country’s intelligence agency. Officially assigned to the French embassy in Bamako, he was detained alongside several officers from the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa).
The military personnel involved, who were dismissed from the army following their arrest, are accused of being part of an espionage and conspiracy network aimed at destabilising Mali’s transitional institutions and preparing a coup plot. Their trial has yet to take place.
France has categorically rejected the allegations against its citizen. Reacting to the ruling, the French foreign ministry denounced the accusations as baseless and asserted that the agent was carrying out a security cooperation mission. Paris insists it has never been directly or indirectly involved in any effort to destabilise Mali.
The case had already sparked severe diplomatic tensions between the two nations. Following the arrest of its agent, France suspended its counter-terrorism cooperation with Mali and ordered two Malian diplomats to leave its territory.
Since the military seized power after the coups of 2020 and 2021, relations between Bamako and Paris have deteriorated sharply. Malian authorities have progressively scaled back cooperation with Western partners, particularly France, while strengthening political and security ties with Russia.
