Ex-Mali PM Choguel Maiga jailed on public funds embezzlement charges
Maiga was initially detained a week ago, days after Malian authorities rounded up dozens of suspects in connection with an alleged military coup.
Mali's former Prime Minister Choguel Maiga has been placed in remand on embezzlement charges, as the country's military leadership steps up arrests following allegations of a coup plot within the security forces.
The charges were disclosed after a hearing before the country's Supreme Court in Bamako on Tuesday. Prosecutors accuse Maiga of laundering funds worth billions of CFA francs, an amount equivalent to several million US dollars.
According to Maiga's lawyer, Cheick Oumar Konaré, no trial date has been set, but the defence will contest the allegations while the former premier remains in custody.
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"We believe in justice, we are calm while awaiting the trial," the lawyer told AFP.
Maiga was initially detained a week ago, days after Malian authorities rounded up dozens of suspects in connection with an alleged military coup.
In early August, another former premier, Moussa Mara, was jailed after publicly supporting anti-junta critics.
Maiga, a key figure in the protest movement that helped unseat Mali's elected government in 2020, was appointed Prime Minister after the second coup in 2021 that consolidated Colonel Assimi Goita's power.
He was dismissed in November 2024 after publicly criticising the military for failing to spell out a timetable to return to civilian rule.
Following his dismissal, the military named General Abdoulaye Maiga, formerly the government's spokesperson, as prime minister.
Since his ouster, Maiga has accused the junta of using courts to silence the opposition.
The case comes as Mali grapples with a prolonged security crisis. Since 2012, militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, along with armed criminal groups, have overrun vast areas of the country.
According to human rights organisations, thousands have been killed and about 350,000 displaced.
Mali has been under military rule since the 2020 coup. Although a transitional administration was briefly formed, the army retook full control in 2021, and Goita was sworn in as transitional president.
The junta later abandoned a pledge to hand power to civilians by March 2024, dissolved political parties and detained prominent activists and opposition leaders.
In July, the junta also approved a new law granting Goita a renewable five-year presidential mandate without elections.
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