In Mali, the transitional authorities issued a state of emergency over the weekend to meet the threat of Covid-19 and persistent terrorist attacks, while ensuring that they do not want to restrict public freedoms, especially journalists. A meeting on the subject was even arranged to calm the press’ concerns. It is in this context that we learn about the arrest of a radio columnist known for his activism, but also the heads of the Malian PMU and a government agency.
Mohammed Youssouf Bathily, known as Ras Bath, is a radio columnist on Renouveau FM. Son of former Minister Mohamed Ali Bathily, he is known for his openness to the authorities. Vital Robert Diop is the head of the Malian PMU, which organizes investments in horse racing, a company with a mixed economy owned by the state. Finally, Souhahebou leads Coulibaly Agefau, a public agency that manages a fund intended for access to telecommunications. All three were arrested on Monday, December 21, by state security and Malia intelligence.
No details from the authorities, but these arrests were confirmed to RFI by an international leading source, working on the issue of human rights in the country. This source speaks of “extrajudicial arrests” and recalls that state security prisons are the only places of detention that are inaccessible to human rights organizations. Malian publications link these arrests to an attempt to destabilize the transitional authorities, or even a coup, allegedly prepared by former Prime Minister Boubou Cissé and other officials of the dismissed regime Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. It is impossible to say whether these allegations are well-founded or imaginative, but it is indeed such suspicions, according to the same source, that would have justified the arrests.
Some of these publications present the director of Agefau, who was arrested by state security, as a family member of former Prime Minister Boubou Cissé, who was denied RFI by the same source. The fight against corruption and embezzlement of public funds, or even misinformation linked to the coronavirus pandemic, are priority transitional authorities. In a statement, the media group Renouveau, where Ras Bath works, explains that it is waiting for explanations about the “motivation” of what he describes as “kidnapping” and reminds that “Freedom of expression is a constitutional right“.
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