Mali court jails prominent journalist and influencer for seven years over criticism of junta

A court in Mali's capital, Bamako, on Monday sentenced a well-known television and radio commentator and an online activist to seven years in prison over their criticism of the country's military government, an AFP journalist witnessed.

The pair — broadcaster Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, widely known by his alias Ras Bath, and campaigner Rokia Doumbia, known online as "Rose, the cost of living" — were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and discrediting the state. On top of the seven-year prison terms, both also received an additional three years suspended.

The two had already spent several years in custody after a 2023 broadcast focused on the economic hardships facing ordinary Malians. Ras Bath has been held since March 2023, and his noticeably thin and drawn appearance when he testified at the trial, which opened on August 10, reportedly shocked many Malians.

Two lawyers who spoke to AFP anonymously said the prosecutor told the court that Ras Bath posed "a danger" to the junta and needed to be kept "far from social media and radio". Prosecutors also claimed the two defendants had acted "in association", noting that Ras Bath had previously invited Doumbia onto his programme twice. His defence team has rejected these claims.

Known for a blunt, confrontational style

Ras Bath built a large following, particularly among younger Malians, through a blunt and outspoken commentary style summed up by his own motto, "shock to educate". That approach also brought him repeated clashes with authorities. In July 2023, he was acquitted in a separate case in which he had been accused of falsely claiming that former prime minister Soumeylou Boubèye Maiga was "assassinated" while in detention under the junta.

Mali's military has ruled since a pair of coups in 2020 and 2021. Since then, the army has steadily narrowed the space for dissent, relying on the courts, coercion and the dissolution of political parties. Under General Assimi Goïta, the junta has missed its own pledge to restore civilian rule by March 2024. The Sahel nation has faced a severe security crisis since 2012, driven in part by jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, as well as criminal networks and armed separatist movements.