Yesterday, it was “Ras Bath” and “Tantie Rose”, two opinion leaders who were arrested for various reasons. The first, whose real name is Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, a well-known radio columnist and activist, was arrested and placed under a warrant in Bamako on March 13. He is being prosecuted for “undermining the credit of the State” for having made remarks qualifying the death, in detention, of the former Prime Minister, Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, as “assassination”. In the process, the second, Rokia Doumbia in the civil registry, was placed in police custody a few days later, for having denounced on social networks, the dear life in unequivocal remarks, directly implicating the authorities of the transition whose action at the head of the state she described as “failure with a balance sheet of 0%”. Today, it is the African Democratic Socialist Party (PSDA) which is in the crosshairs of Malian Justice, for remarks made, last October, by its president, Ismaël Sacko, once morest Prime Minister Choguel Maïga whom he notably treated as “ingrate”, “imbued” and “whiner”.
The arrests are increasing once morest all those who are suspected of trying to row once morest the momentum of the Transition
Remarks deemed “insulting to the transitional authorities, in particular the interim Prime Minister” and which seem to have provoked the wrath of the government, judging by the legal proceedings for dissolution initiated once morest the party. The latter was taken to court for “undermining public order and national sovereignty”. The hearing was on the roll of the High Court of Commune II of Bamako, on April 5th. The least we see is that arrests are increasing in Mali where the transitional authorities seem determined to crack down on all those who are suspected, rightly or wrongly, of trying to row once morest their momentum. . And with these cascading lawsuits, there is a clear intention to put a real leaden screed over the heads of all those who dare to speak out to criticize the government’s action. The question that then arises is to know why the authorities of the transition show such feverishness which sometimes borders on an allergy to criticism. What are they afraid of? Or, what is hidden behind this propensity to drag, for a yes or a no, before the courts, those of their compatriots who want to be so many discordant voices in a country where, unless there is an error or omission, freedom of expression is not officially called into question? Has Choguel Maïga already forgotten the troublemaker he was for many previous regimes like that of Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita once morest whom he did not have harsh enough words when he was in opposition where he ended up at the head of the M5-RFP challenge?
The only fight that is worth today for the power of Bamako is to succeed in a transition at the turn of which he knows he is highly expected
So many questions that challenge all the more that the cases cited above seem to respond to the same logic that had seen the leader of another political party, the African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence (Sadi) party, Oumar Mariko, to be imprisoned, in December 2021, for remarks deemed irreverent made once morest the same tenant of the Primature. Following this first arrest, the opponent had benefited from a provisional release before being targeted once more, a few months later, by another legal procedure for accusations of abuses brought once morest the army. A situation that has forced Oumar Mariko to disappear from circulation and to be rather discreet since then. It is to say if it is not good to be cataloged today in Mali like a dissonant note with what wants to be a “symphony” of the transition. Going back to yesterday’s hearing, beyond the verdict, what raises questions is less the legal procedure itself than the approach which went directly to a request for the dissolution of the party for legal proceedings which might however have found all their meaning in a defamation lawsuit once morest its president. This is to say if the junta in power in Bamako must pull itself together at the risk of lending its flank more to criticism if it does not simply bring grist to the mill of its critics who suspect it of having a hidden agenda. in connection with the end of the transition supposed to sign the return of civilians to power. Still, by evading the criminal procedure once morest the author of the remarks deemed “insulting” to directly initiate legal proceedings for the dissolution of the party, one can wonder regarding the motivations for the transition. Was it for pedagogical reasons? Is this settling of political scores? Or is it trying to cut croupiers out of a potential adversary in view of the general elections supposed to sign the return to constitutional order? On these questions, history will no doubt shed some edifying light. In the meantime, everything suggests that the only fight that is worth today for the power of Bamako is to succeed in a transition at the turn of which he knows he is highly expected, both by Malians and by the international community. It is on this result that Choguel Maïga, his government and the entire executive will be judged. And it’s already in a few months. At least, in principle…
” The country ”
