Mali jails Ras Bath and Rokia Doumbia for seven years

A court in Bamako sentenced Malian broadcaster Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, known as Ras Bath, and influencer Rokia Doumbia to seven years in jail on Monday after convicting them of criminal conspiracy and discrediting the state.

The court also gave both defendants three-year suspended sentences. Bathily, a television and radio commentator, and Doumbia, a campaigner known online as “Rose, the cost of living”, had both criticised Mali's ruling junta.

Both had been held since March 2023 after a 2023 programme by Bathily about economic difficulties facing ordinary Malians. Bathily's trial opened on August 10 at the Bamako Court of Appeal's criminal chamber.

Two lawyers, speaking anonymously to AFP, said the prosecutor told the court that Bathily was a danger to the junta and should be kept away from social media and radio. Prosecutors alleged Bathily and Doumbia were “in association” with each other, saying Bathily had invited Doumbia onto his show twice before.

Bathily's defence denied the accusations. One of his lawyers, Ladji Traore, said the defence would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Souleymane Camara, president of the Network of Human Rights Defenders of Mali, told AFP that the convictions “would not have happened if we were in a democracy, because they were just doing their job”.

Bathily has built a following through criticism of Mali's social and political problems and has had several earlier legal cases. In July 2023, he was acquitted in a separate case over claims he made about the death of former prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga in detention.

Mali's military government came to power after coups in 2020 and 2021. Under General Assimi Goita, it did not meet a pledge to hand power back to civilians by March 2024. The country ranked 121st out of 180 in the 2026 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index.