International arrest warrant issued against the son of the former president of Mali

An international arrest warrant has been issued against the son of the former Malian president for the disappearance of an investigative journalist in Bamako in 2016.

Interpol on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Karim Keita, a former lawmaker and eldest son of former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was deposed in a military coup in August 2020.

The warrant, which has not yet been published on the Interpol website, was issued at the request of an examining magistrate in Bamako, the Malian capital, who is investigating the disappearance of Birama Touré.

Touré has not been seen since January 29, 2016, according to his family and the editor of the Sphinx, the weekly, for which he was working on a story that allegedly damaged Keita’s reputation.

The magazine and the family suspect Touré of having been kidnapped, tortured and killed after several months of detention.

Keita, who escaped arrest during the coup and has lived in Côte d’Ivoire ever since, has always denied any role in Touré’s disappearance.

In 2019 filed a libel action against the magazine’s director and a radio reporter over the allegations. The case was dismissed for technical reasons, but the editor-in-chief of the magazine Adama Drame, is now in exile in France, fearing for his safety.

(with AFP)