Mali rights groups denounce arrest of two journalists amid junta security crackdown

Rights groups on Wednesday denounced the arrest of two prominent journalists in Mali over the past two days, calling it part of a broader crackdown on press freedom by the country’s military leadership as it confronts a persistent security crisis. The arrests were described as the latest steps by authorities to curb statements that critics say are based on reporting about jihadist control and the state’s response in the north.

According to the Malian press association Maison de La Presse, Abdramane Keita, a well-known journalist and TV presenter, was detained Tuesday on charges that included “undermining national unity and the credibility of the State” and “dissemination of false and misleading information.” The case followed public comments Keita made on his “Grand Jury” program, where he said the Al-Qaeda-linked group JNIM controls the town of Kidal. Kidal is in northern Mali and was seized during major coordinated attacks in April by JNIM together with separatist elements, according to reporting cited by rights advocates.

Rights groups said Keita’s remarks were treated as an offense rather than information subject to debate. In Mali, public statements suggesting that the military is losing ground to jihadist groups have previously been met with criminal charges, according to the accounts reported by observers. The denouncements Wednesday focused on whether the legal system is being used to punish journalists for content that authorities consider destabilizing during wartime conditions.

Keita’s arrest came after the detention of another media figure, Chahana Takiou, a television presenter and editor-in-chief of the newspaper “22 Septembre.” Maison de La Presse said Takiou was arrested Monday on charges tied to “undermining the credibility of the State through the judicial system.” The same reporting said Takiou had criticized the authorities’ application of a cybercrime law and argued that it amounts to an attack on press freedom, particularly when journalists’ words are treated as criminal threats or insults under broadly framed online offenses.

Human Rights Watch’s Sahel researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi, speaking Wednesday as reported by the press, said the arrests illustrate the problem identified by Takiou. Allegrozzi said Mali’s 2019 cybercrime law contains broadly defined offenses that can be used to curb free expression, with penalties applied to allegations that do not require proof of imminent harm, and that prosecutors and investigators can use the law to sidestep protections that press statutes provide to journalists.

The rights advocates also called for the release of both men, arguing that arrests over journalistic statements risk shrinking the space for public information at a time when communities are dealing with violence and uncertainty. In a country where armed groups have maintained control over parts of the territory and where security operations remain ongoing, journalists reporting on local conditions can become targets of retaliation or legal pressure, according to the concerns raised by rights organizations.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday what prosecutors will do next in either case, including whether charges will be formally presented to a court or whether either journalist has been able to access lawyers. The arrests, however, have already triggered criticism from press and rights groups, adding pressure on authorities to clarify the legal basis for the detentions and to explain how the government will protect reporting while pursuing public-order and national-security objectives.