Mali’s junta has jailed a prominent journalist, sparking renewed concerns over media freedom in the country.
Malian journalists confirmed national and international media reports that police arrested Youssouf Sissoko, editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper L’Alternance, at his home in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on February 5.
The police took Sissoko before a cybercrime unit prosecutor, who charged him with spreading false information and insulting a foreign head of state, among other offenses, and ordered him held in pretrial custody. Sissoko is in Bamako’s central prison, with his trial scheduled to begin on March 9 before the specialized anti-cybercrime tribunal.
The arrest followed the publication, on February 2, of an article by Sissoko in L’Alternance questioning public statements by neighboring Niger’s military ruler, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani. The article examined Tiani’s remarks about a late-January attack on Niamey’s international airport, claimed by the armed group the Islamic State in the Sahel Province, and challenged his allegations that France, Côte d’Ivoire, and Benin were involved.
Sissoko was arrested under Mali’s 2019 cybercrime law, which has been criticized for blurring the line between preserving national security and suppressing free speech. Articles 20 and 21 criminalize “threats” and “insults” made via digital platforms and carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison, yet the law does not clearly define these terms, granting the authorities broad discretionary powers.
On February 5, the Malian Association of Private Print Media Publishers denounced Sissoko’s arrest, and on the following day, Reporters Without Borders called for his release.
Since seizing power in a 2021 coup, Mali’s junta has suspended media outlets, dissolved civil society organizations, abolished multiparty politics, and pursued criminal cases against critics.
In January, the Ministry of Territorial Administration issued a decree banning the circulation and distribution of Jeune Afrique, among the most influential news outlets covering African affairs.
Sissoko’s arbitrary detention highlights the fragile state of independent media in a country fraught with repression and shrinking civic space. The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Sissoko and drop all charges against him.
