Mali opponent detained after questioning Burkina junta

A Malian dissident was detained in the capital Bamako Wednesday under pressure from authorities in Burkina Faso, who accused him of making “extremely serious remarks” against the neighbouring country’s junta.

The two West African states have been ruled by military regimes since coups in 2020 and 2022, joining together with junta-led Niger to form the confederation the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

The military-led governments have taken repressive measures against the press, suspending a number of foreign media outlets and imprisoning or silencing journalists or critics.

Issa Kaou N’Djim, a Malian political figure who previously supported junta chief Colonel Assimi Goita before distancing himself, made the offending comments on Sunday during a programme aired on local television station Joliba TV News.

Burkina Faso’s media regulator said the remarks were aimed at “discrediting our authorities, claiming without any proof that the case of the umpteenth attempt to destabilise Burkina Faso is nothing but a fabrication”.

In a statement, it asked the Malian High Authority for Communication (HAC) “to take whatever action it deems appropriate with regard to the broadcast of this programme”.

N’Djim was arrested on Wednesday and “is currently in Bamako civil prison for offences committed publicly against a foreign head of state and insults committed through an information system,” an administrative source at the Bamako prison and a judicial source told AFP.

One of his relatives earlier told AFP that N’Djim was arrested in the morning by plain-clothes officers “who said they needed him for a case”, adding that he “followed them to answer”.

N’Djim was one of the vice-presidents of the National Transitional Council (CNT), the legislative body of Mali’s military rulers.

He later said he favoured a rapid end to the so-called transitional period intended to return power to elected civilians.

N’Djim was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence in December 2021 for “undermining the credit of the state”, following comments deemed “subversive” on social media.

He was dismissed from the CNT and prevented from leaving the country on several occasions.

Burkina Faso’s junta regularly reports cases of attempted destabilisation, leading to the arrest of several officers and civilians, most recently in September.

On Wednesday a journalist in Niger was also detained over similar destabilisation claims on the part of Burkina Faso’s authorities.