A Malian influencer was imprisoned on Wednesday, March 15, after harshly attacking the military in power and their ” failure “, according to her, in the face of insecurity and inflation, the prosecution of commune 4 of Bamako told AFP. On Monday, another personality, radio and television host Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, known as “Ras Bath”, was placed under a warrant of arrest after declaring that a former prime minister who died in detention a year ago had been “murdered”.
Discordant voices are struggling to be heard without risking being disturbed under the regime of the colonels who took power by force in August 2020 by overthrowing President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.
Rokia Doumbia, known in Mali for her commitment against the high cost of living and widely followed on social networks, herself told an AFP correspondent that she had been arrested on Monday following a live broadcast on TikTok the day before. She remained two days at the police station before being placed under a warrant of committal for “incitement to revolt” And “disturbing public order through the use of information and communication technologies”, said a member of the prosecution on condition of anonymity. The information was confirmed to AFP by a relative of Rokia Doumbia.
“Time has proven IBK right”
“Under your governance, things are not going well”she launched in her “live” addressed to the leader of the junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta. “This transition is a failure with 0% [de résultats]. I would not even give 1%, but 0%”she said, speaking of the period of military government supposed to precede the return, announced for 2024, of the civilians at the head of this country plagued by the spread of jihadists and a deep multidimensional crisis. “No Malian lives in peace”she said while the authorities regularly claim to have taken the initiative against the jihadists. “Insecurity is gaining ground everywhere”she continued.
“During my lives, people react by denouncing the soaring price of rice, diesel, oil and sugar. You didn’t make a coup for that.”she insisted to the colonels who govern. “Time has proven IBK right”she added in reference to Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, deposed by the military in a climate of exasperation of the population in the face of insecurity, corruption and the failures of the State.
A relative of Rokia Doumbia, speaking on condition of anonymity like many interlocutors now, said that she had been reported to the authorities by the Collective for the Defense of the Military (CDM ). The appeals of this organization, one of the most offensive supporters of the junta, are often followed by effect. It is also the CDM, with obscure links to the junta, which had called on justice to take up the comments of the host Ras Bath.