Tried for Conspiracy, Ex-Malian Colonel Accuses Authorities

Tried for conspiracy against the state, Colonel Kassoum Goita accused the provisional government of torture, money laundering, and conspiracy on the 15th of July. According to RFI, Kassoum Goita, who has no family links to the current leader of the Malian military junta, Assimi Goita, has accused the current government of arresting him because of his former role in the state and his extensive knowledge of confidential information. 

Kassoum Goita was arrested in autumn 2021 by the transitional government that ousted the former provisional president Bah N’Daw in April 2021. Alongside 5 other important advisors to the ex-president, he is tried for conspiracy against the state, and has been held in prison in notably cruel conditions for the past 5 years. The trial began on the 13th of July, marked by intense testimonies of the accused. 

According to Goita’s defence, ex-transitional president Bah N’Daw did not intend to remain president, as his role was provisional, and the entire government hoped for democratic elections. He then accused the military putschists of having embezzled public funds during the pre-2020 coup era, under Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s government, by placing them on offshore accounts with the help of the current minister of the economy, Alousseni Sanou. Ex-president Bah N’Daw would have asked the military men to put the funds back, but without success. 

Further claims by Kassoum Goita explained that as chief of state security during the first interim government, Goita had heard of plans elaborated by the current military head of state to keep Bah N’Daw as president for much longer than supposed. Bah N’Daw would have allegedly refused, leading to his eventual destitution and house arrest. 

Kassim Goita further explained the torture the Malian authorities subjected him to, but it is former businessman Sandi Ahmed Saloum, also tried for conspiracy, that described the abuse they faced in prison most clearly, describing and providing pictures of mutilations of private parts and torture among other abuses to their defence. 

The next few days of trial will see the lawyers’ closing arguments follow: those of the defence, the prosecution, and the State Litigation Department. As for the only witness on whom the conspiracy allegations are based, a military officer, he has been absent since the beginning of the trial. However, the court has the means to compel him to appear, if it so wishes.

RFI, Africa News, Maghrebi.org