BAMAKO, Mali — Mali’s former prime minister was taken into pretrial detention on Friday after expressing solidarity in a media publish with jailed critics of the army junta ruling the West African nation, his lawyer and a detailed affiliate mentioned.
Moussa Mara’s arrest is the impression in a crackdown on dissent by Mali’s military rulers following the nation’s first pro-democracy rally since troopers seized energy practically 4 years in the past.
Abdoulaye Yaro, a detailed affiliate of the previous prime minister, informed The Related Press that Mara was arrested after a cybercrime prosecutor ordered his detention pending trial for expressing compassion for individuals jailed for political opinions.
A member of the cybercrime unit mentioned Mara has been accused of “damaging the state’s credibility” and that his trial would begin on Sept. 29, 2025. He spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not approved to talk to the media.
Mara’s lawyer Mountaga Tall mentioned on X that the previous prime minister faces fees together with undermining state authority, inciting public dysfunction, and spreading false data. Mara’s authorized workforce is contesting the costs and detention, Tall mentioned.
On July 4, Mara posted on X that he had visited jailed critics of the army junta.
“So long as the night time lasts, the solar will clearly seem!” he wrote and added, “We are going to struggle by all means for this to occur as quickly as doable!”
Mali, a landlocked nation in Africa’s semiarid Sahel area on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, has been embroiled in political instability that swept throughout West and Central Africa during 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, regardless of the junta’s earlier guarantees of a return to civilian rule by March 2024. The transfer adopted the army regime’s dissolution of political parties in Could.