A one-year prison sentence was requested on Monday, December 23, against a Malian opponent tried before a court in Bamako for having made critical remarks against the military in power in neighboring Burkina Faso, Agence France was told. -Press (AFP) a judicial source. Issa Kaou N'Djim, a Malian political figure known for having supported the head of the junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta, before distancing himself, is being prosecuted for “an offense committed publicly against a foreign head of state and insults committed through of an information system”. He was detained in mid-November in Bamako civil prison.
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The state judicial agent also requested the payment of a fine of 5 million CFA francs (7,659 euros) by Issa Kaou N'Djim. The decision was reserved until December 30. The opponent had questioned, during a program on local television Joliba TV News, the credibility of a supposed foiled coup in Burkina Faso. Closed since November by the Malian authorities in connection with Mr. N'Djim's case, Joliba TV News was finally suspended for six months in mid-December.
Issa Kaou N'Djim was one of the vice-presidents of the National Transitional Council (CNT), the legislative body of the military in power in Mali, before speaking out in favor of a rapid end to the so-called period of transition, supposed to restore a regime led by civilians. In December 2021, he was sentenced to six months in prison for “damaging the credit of the State” after comments deemed subversive on social networks. He had been dismissed from the CNT and was repeatedly prevented from leaving the territory.
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Mali and Burkina Faso, both ruled by military regimes following putsches between 2020 and 2022, have taken repressive measures against the press, suspended access or broadcast to several media outlets – particularly foreign ones – and reduced access to silence or imprisonment of journalists and other critical voices. They founded a confederation with Niger, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The Burkinabe junta regularly announces cases of attempts at destabilization, leading in particular to the arrest of several officers and civilians. The last one dates back to the end of September.
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