- Former Prime Minister Choguel Maiga is charged with embezzlement, forgery, and misuse of public funds.
- He was dismissed in November 2024 after criticising the junta’s extended rule.
- Maiga and eight former colleagues remain in custody as the junta cracks down on dissent.
- His lawyer says they remain calm and are awaiting trial with confidence in justice.
- Analysts say the case reflects the junta’s hardening stance against critics.
Mali’s former civilian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga has been charged with embezzlement of public funds and placed in detention following a Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday. He faces accusations of damaging public property, forgery, and the use of false documents.
According to his lawyer, Cheick Oumar Konare, no trial date has been set. He added:
“We believe in justice, we are calm while awaiting the trial.”
Maiga was arrested last week in a wave of detentions launched by the junta, which claimed it was suppressing an attempted coup within army ranks. Eight of his former colleagues have also been remanded in custody, though his former chief of staff was released pending trial.
Konare said Maiga remains composed:
“Choguel Maiga says he is calm and believes that a politician should expect anything, including prison and death.”
Maiga became prime minister in 2021 after the second of Mali’s back-to-back coups, serving as one of the few civilian figures in a government dominated by the military. He was dismissed in November 2024 after openly criticising the junta for failing to return power to civilians by March 2024, as it had promised.
Mali has been under military rule since the 2020 coup, facing persistent jihadist attacks and separatist conflicts. Observers say Maiga’s prosecution signals the junta’s growing intolerance of dissent and its continued consolidation of power.
