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BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali's former prime minister was taken into
pretrial detention on Friday after expressing solidarity in a
media post with jailed critics of the military junta ruling the
West African country, his lawyer and a close associate said.
Moussa Mara's arrest is the latest in a crackdown on dissent by
Mali's military rulers following the country's first
pro-democracy rally since soldiers seized power nearly four
years ago.
Abdoulaye Yaro, a close associate of the former prime minister,
told The Associated Press that Mara was arrested after a
cybercrime prosecutor ordered his detention pending trial for
expressing compassion for people jailed for political beliefs.
A member of the cybercrime unit said Mara has been accused of
“damaging the state’s credibility” and that his trial would
start on Sept. 29, 2025. He spoke on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Mara’s lawyer Mountaga Tall said on X that the former prime
minister faces charges including undermining state authority,
inciting public disorder, and spreading false information.
Mara's legal team is contesting the charges and detention, Tall
said.
On July 4, Mara posted on X that he had visited jailed critics
of the military junta.
“As long as the night lasts, the sun will obviously appear!” he
wrote and added, “We will fight by all means for this to happen
as soon as possible!”
Mali, a landlocked nation in Africa's semiarid Sahel region on
the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, has been embroiled in
political instability that swept across West and Central Africa
over the last decade.
Since orchestrating two coups in 2020 and 2021, Gen. Assimi
Goita has led Mali. In June, he was granted an additional five
years in power, despite the junta's earlier promises of a return
to civilian rule by March 2024. The move followed the military
regime’s dissolution of political parties in May.
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