Mali’s interim government criticized an armed police protest on Saturday that resulted in the release of a special forces commander who had been arrested for allegedly using excessive force to suppress protesters last year.
The administration stated in a statement broadcast on national television that “uniformed and armed individuals took to the streets to demonstrate” in a “condemnable” behavior.
The campaign against impunity, it stated, would continue.
Angry police officers stormed a prison in the capital, Bamako, on Friday, following the arrest of a special forces commander as part of an inquiry into protester fatalities in 2020.
Angry police officers marched on a prison in the capital, Bamako, on Friday, after a special forces commander was held as part of an investigation into the killings of protesters in 2020.
Detained commander Oumar Samake had been in prison for only a few hours before he was released, in circumstances that remain unclear.
Mali’s government stressed that the investigation into the 2020 protester killings was ongoing and urged security forces to “respect the authority of the state.”
Samake had been detained for his alleged role in lethal clashes between security forces and opponents of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last year, in a wave of protests that eventually led to Keita’s overthrow.
One such protest on July 10, 2020, sparked several days of deadly unrest.
Mali’s political opposition said at the time that 23 people were killed; the U.N. reported 14 protesters killed, including two children.
One year on, the events involving Samake’s detention underscore Mali’s deep political instability.
The military deposed Keita in August 2020 after weeks of protests fueled by grievances over corruption and Mali’s long-running jihadist conflict.
Army officers then installed a civilian-led interim government to steer Mali back toward democratic rule.
But military strongman Colonel Assimi Goita deposed these civilian leaders in May in a second coup.
Goita has pledged to restore civilian rule and stage elections in February next year. There are doubts about whether elections can be held within such a short time.
Mali has been struggling to quell a brutal jihadist insurgency that emerged in 2012 and left swaths of the vast nation outside government control.
*This article was written by Gerald Gekara for Uzalendo News. Email: uzalendonews24@gmail.com to submit your story.
