The lawyers of Colonel Kassoum Goïta, former putschist and former head of state security, now imprisoned, raised the alarm on Monday June 10 about his disappearance after his extraction from his cell in Bamako ten days ago. ” Nowadays, [ses] councils as well as his family received no information concerning him and were unable to have any contact, neither direct nor indirect, with him”specifies in a press release the group of lawyers who defend him.
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Colonel Kassoum Goïta was the subject of a ” kidnapping “ in his cell by “elements foreign to the judicial system” on May 31, they point out. Kassoum Goïta was part of the group of colonels who overthrew civilian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on August 18, 2020. His namesake, Colonel Assimi Goïta, is still at the head of this country plunged into security and political turmoil since 2012.
Kassoum Goïta then took the helm of the state security directorate under President Bah N’Daw, installed by the junta after the 2020 putsch. The colonels ousted Bah N’Daw during a second coup. State in May 2021 and consolidated power which they now exercise unchallenged.
Alleged coup attempt
Kassoum Goïta and five other men, including the former secretary general of the presidency under Bah N’Daw, were arrested and held incommunicado in September and October 2021. They were tortured during their detention, Human Rights Watch denounced. The judiciary only indicated in November 2021 that they were indicted for an alleged attempted coup d’état.
Many people have been taken by unknown persons since 2020 and held incommunicado for at least several days before being brought before the courts or eventually released.
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The collective of lawyers of Kassoum Goïta and his co-defendants indicate that they have been detained since 2021 in a gendarmerie camp “in drastic conditions, locked up twenty-four hours a day, comparable to inhuman conditions”. They have been awaiting their trial since their referral to a criminal court in January 2023, specifies the collective. They “proclaim their innocence and demand their judgment”specifies the press release.
The Malian authorities reported another coup attempt in May 2022, which they said was foiled and also went completely unnoticed.
