An appeal court on Monday upheld a prison sentence against Mali’s former prime minister Moussa Mara which was handed down last year after he expressed support for political prisoners online.
Mara, who was prime minister of the west African country for eight months from 2014 until 2015, was charged with “undermining the credibility of the state and opposing legitimate authority” in October.
In July, he posted on social media that he had met political prisoners and promised justice. He has been in prison since August 1.
A judge in the Bamako Court of Appeal upheld his original sentence of two years in jail, one of them suspended, and a fine of 500,000 CFA francs ($908).
“We will not give up,” his lawyer Mountaga Tall told AFP, adding: “We will consult with each other and appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Rights group Amnesty International said it was “deeply concerned about the upholding of these bogus and politically motivated charges”.
“The authorities must quash the baseless conviction and sentence and immediately release Moussa Mara. They must also release other people held solely for peacefully exercising their human rights,” it continued.
“Mara’s persecution is part of a wider trend of repression by the Malian authorities, including by weaponizing the justice system to target their critics,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty’s regional director for west and central Africa.
Mali is ruled by a military junta, which came to power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.
Since then, the government has ramped up repression of its critics, including taking measures against the press and dissolving political parties.
AFP
