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Ex-president's death sentence commuted to life

    ABIDJAN

    Ex-president Moussa Traore will not walk out of prison a free man but the state will not kill him after sentencing him to death for stealing state funds. Mali's current president, Alpha Oumar Konare, commuted Traore's death sentence to life on Tuesday, the second time he has done so.

    Announcing the clemency on Mali's 39th independence anniversary, Konare also commuted to life the death sentences on Traore's wife, Mariam, and his brother in law Abramane Doua, news reports said. All three were sentenced to death for economic crimes on 12 January.

    Traore, who ruled the poor landlocked country with an iron fist for 23 years before a coup ousted him, was first sentenced to death in 1997 for "crimes of blood", Reuters reported.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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