Mali journalist gets two years over security comment

Malian journalist Abderhamane Keita was sentenced on Monday to two years in prison after remarks on a TV programme about the country's security situation.

Keita, an editor at the daily Le Temoin newspaper, was taken into custody in early June for “undermining national unity and the credibility of the state” and “publishing and disseminating false or misleading information”.

He was prosecuted after saying on a TV programme about Mali's security situation that the northern city of Kidal was being run by the leader of the jihadist group JNIM.

Keita appeared before Mali's national cybercrime unit last week, and the verdict was announced on Monday. His lawyer told AFP they would appeal.

Reporters Without Borders, known as RSF, called the conviction “unjust” and a “new way of criminalising journalism”. Sadibou Marong, head of the group's sub-Saharan Africa bureau, said it sent “a particularly troubling signal to media professionals in Mali and the region”. RSF urged Mali's authorities to end the use of the justice system against journalists.

Since late April, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known as JNIM, and its Tuareg separatist allies have carried out attacks aimed at weakening Mali's junta rulers. These included taking Kidal and assassinating the defence minister in April.

Mali has faced a serious security crisis since 2012, fuelled by violence from jihadists allied to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, as well as criminal gangs and armed separatists.

The junta, which came to power in coups in 2020 and 2021, has taken numerous measures in recent years against the press and critical voices. Authorities have also dissolved political parties and banned political activities by associations.