Freed Ivorian soldiers return home after six months

By TOUSSAINT N’GOTTA
Associated Press

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Forty six Ivorian soldiers who were detained for six months in Mali have returned home to cheers and celebrations. Waving flags, the beaming soldiers saluted Ivorian officials as they descended the military plane in the capital, Abidjan, on Saturday evening. Forty nine soldiers were detained in July when they went to work for Sahelian Aviation Services, a private company contracted to work in Mali by the United Nations. The soldiers were pardoned last week after 46 of them were sentenced to 20 years in prison for undermining state security in Mali and for attacks on Mali’s government. Three other defendants, all women who had been released in September, were tried in absentia and sentenced to death.