BAMAKO (Reuters) – Several leaders of the Malian opposition alliance, known as the “Platform of the Joint Declaration of March 31”, were arrested on Thursday during a private meeting at the home of a former minister, reported Friday the coalition, which called for their immediate release.
At the beginning of April, the junta in power in Bamako issued a decree suspending all political activity in the name of maintaining public order.
The platform did not specify the number of people arrested. But Boubacar Touré, representative of one of the parties, reported to Reuters 11 arrests.
“The parties (…) condemn with the greatest rigor these arbitrary arrests, which contravene the Constitution and all the laws of Mali,” declares the platform in a press release.
The parties and civil society organizations united within the opposition platform denounce the decision taken on March 31 by the Malian authorities not to organize elections within the deadlines previously announced as part of the transition.
The opposition accuses the authorities of taking “the path of dictatorship (…) with the sole aim of remaining in power and silencing all democratic and republican voices.”
Authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting Tiemoko Diallo, written by Anait Miridzhanian; French version Pauline Foret, edited by Sophie Louet)
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