Malian military government opens case against prominent figures

The military government that took power in Mali last August has opened an investigation into alleged violations of state security, according to the Bamako prosecutor. The investigation refers directly to seven personalities of Malian society arrested on December 21, suspected of having plotted a coup d’état.

Included in the list are former Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cissé, popular radio columnist Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, alias Ras Bath, Vital Robert Diop, managing director of betting company PMU-Mali, Aguibou Macky Tall, president of Agefau , a telecommunications agency and half-brother of Boubou Cissé, as well as Souleymane Kansaye and Mamadou Koné, who both work for the treasury.

Cisse, who was on duty during the August 18 coup, is the only one not detained because they could not find him.

“A lot of people see this as soldiers in power trying to pressure people,” said Issa Togola, correspondent for the Africa Calling podcast in Bamako.

The prosecutor says that all these personalities had contacts and suspicious movements inside the country for possible acts of sabotage, but gave no details on how this happened.

The men were arrested outside of any legal framework and taken to Bamako barracks after their arrest, even though they were not in the army.

No link?
Malians find it hard to see any kind of connection between the seven men.

“They have very different political views and they don’t have a common project,” Togola says.

He adds that while military officers have been implicated in security breaches in Mali in the past, no soldiers have been arrested on these charges.

“We cannot see any arrested soldiers among these people, so it is very difficult to see how they can endanger the security of the state,” he said.

The only plausible link is that some work in the media, according to Togola.

“Ras Bath is an influential columnist here in this country, so people may think it’s a way to silence him, so he can’t talk or say bad things about those in power, but we do not have a clear vision of the reason for his arrest now, ”he said.

Journalists and human rights defenders spoke out against the military government.

“Ras Bath was arrested without any legal process, without any arrest warrant – journalists see it as a violation of press freedom, and human rights defenders consider it illegal,” he said.

Besides the seven above, Sékou Touré, the secretary general of the presidency, was also arrested. However, his case will be processed by the Supreme Court of Mali because he is a minister and a lawyer, according to the prosecutor’s statement.