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Moussa Traoré (born 25 September 1936-15 september 2020) is a Malian soldier and politician who was President of Mali from 1968 to 1991. As a Lieutenant, he led the military ousting of President Modibo Keïta in 1968. Thereafter he served as head of state until March 1991, when he was overthrown by popular protests and a military coup. He was twice condemned to death in the 1990s,
In 1993, Traoré was sentenced to death for "political crimes," largely focused on the murder of some 300 pro-democratic protesters in Bamako, but his sentence was later commuted. In 1999, he was once again sentenced to death with his wife Mariam Traoré, for "economic crimes": the embezzlement of the equivalent of US $ 350,000 during his government. President Alpha Oumar Konaré commuted these sentences to life imprisonment. Shortly before leaving office, on May 29, 2002, the year in which he served his second and final term, Konaré pardoned Mr. and Mrs. Traoré. Explaining his refusal to see the former president executed, Konaré felt that he had to be left alive so that he could see democracy settle in Mali, initially Traoré refused to be pardoned on the grounds that his properties had been looted. He has since retired from political life.
He has refused to talk about his dark hours at a local jail in Markala and lives protected by military officers who guard the visits assigned by the government to avoid any adjustment of accounts, since it remains on Malian soil.