Malian prosecutors on Wednesday launched a probe into the alleged attempt by a prison union representative to ‘overthrow’ the ruling junta.

Commander Daouda Konate, head of the prison guards’ union, has not been heard from since late last week after he criticised the authorities online, his family and a union source said on Monday.

Since the military seized power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, several dissidents have been abducted and detained incommunicado before being brought before a court or eventually released.

The National Anti-Cybercriminal Unit prosecutor in a statement cited a recording “gone viral on social media whose author allegedly is Commander Douada Konate”.

“Threats against the state’s safety and calls to a popular uprising to overthrow the institutions of the Republic” were voiced in the audio message, the prosecutor said.

The file also contained “speech undermining the state’s credibility, slanderous and deceptive speech attributed to public authorities”, he added.

READ ALSO:Why Muslims celebrate Maolud Nabiyy – Sheikh AbdulMalik

Konate had recently denounced on social platforms the conditions and understaffing in Malian prisons and accused Justice Minister Mahamadou Kassogue of “knowing nothing” about the prison system.

He is being held at the premises of the intelligence services, a security official said, speaking anonymously due to their profession.

Another prison trade unionist, Famoussa Fomba, who works as a nurse at a Bamako jail, has also been reported missing, a union source said.

Mali is battling a political, security and economic crisis and has been ravaged by jihadist violence since 2012.

The west African state also faces a separatist insurgency in the volatile desert north.