French soldiers convicted for Ivory Coast bank robberies News
French soldiers convicted for Ivory Coast bank robberies

[JURIST] A military court sentenced 12 French soldiers to prison for up to one year on Tuesday for robbing an Ivory Coast bank [Africa News report] regularly while stationed with France's Licorne Force [Wikipedia entry, in French] backing up a UN peacekeeping mission [official website]. The Licorne forces are supporting the UN forces [JURIST report] in Côte d'Ivoire [Wikipedia profile], where troops are needed to enforce a ceasefire and disarmament plan [BBC News report] between the government supported south and rebels in the north. The soldiers admitted to most of the charges against them, leading to a prison sentence of 12 months for the eight men charged with theft and two to eight months for the four accomplices to the robberies. AP has more.