SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Mali influencer arrested after denouncing junta's 'failure'
Bamako, March 15 (AFP) Mar 15, 2023
A prominent social media influencer in Mali was detained Wednesday after lambasting the ruling military junta as a "failure" with regards to insecurity and inflation, prosecutors told AFP.

The arrest of Rokia Doumbia came days after another media figure, radio and TV presenter Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, widely known as "Ras Bath", was jailed for alleging former prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga had been "murdered" while in detention last year.

Tensions have risen since junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita, who took control after two coups since August 2020, last week postponed a constitutional referendum -- a key part of his pledge to hold democratic elections in February 2024.

Doumbia, known for her popular posts against soaring prices, told AFP she had been arrested Monday after a live TikTok broadcast in Bamako.

A prosecutor who requested anonymity said she had been held two days and charged with "inciting rebellion" and "troubling public order via communication technologies".

"Under your governance, nothing is working," Doumbia said of Goita in the broadcast. "This transition is a failure with zero percent [results]. I wouldn't even given you one percent, but zero percent."

"No Malian lives in peace," she added, mocking the junta's claims of success against Islamic insurgents that have carried out deadly attacks for more than a decade.

"History will show that IBK was right," she said, referring to former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was ousted in the coup carried out amid growing anger against the insurgency but also widespread corruption.

"Ras Bath" was detained after a rally Saturday marking the renewal of Keita's party, the Alliance for Solidarity in Mali (ASMA).

He told the crowd that Maiga, who was premier under Keita from 2017 to 2019, "did not die, he was murdered, that's the only word for it".

Maiga had been arrested in August 2021 on fraud and other charges before dying in detention in March 2022, after relatives had requested urgent medical care.

Mali is in the throes of an 11-year-old security crisis triggered by a regional revolt in the north that developed into a full-blown jihadist insurgency.

Since then the military junta has severed ties with France, the country's traditional ally, which has pulled its troops out of Mali, while seeking closer ties with Russia.

kt-mk-sd-lal-amt/js/jj


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
Sun boundary map tracks shifting Alfven surface over solar cycle
Mission Space to fly second space weather payload with Rogue Space

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Molecular contacts push tandem solar cells to 31.4 percent efficiency
Asymmetric side chain design boosts thick film organic solar cell efficiency
New analysis links lead cooled reactor corrosion to steel microstructure

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus

24/7 News Coverage
UAlbany Atmospheric Scientist Proposes Innovative Method to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space
Robots that spare warehouse workers the heavy lifting



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.