Mali arrests top politician for criticizing Burkina Faso's ruling junta

BAMAKO, Mali — Mali's ruling junta arrested one of the country's top politicians Wednesday for criticizing the military rulers of neighboring Burkina Faso, according to his son and a judiciary source.

Issa Kaou N'Djim, who previously supported Mali's current military leader Col. Assimi Goita before distancing himself, was arrested on charges of insulting a foreign head of state, which is a crime in Mali, an employee of the court system said. The court employee spoke to the The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.

N'Djim had claimed on the Joliba TV News broadcaster on Sunday that the military rulers of Burkina Faso, a close ally of Mali, made up evidence of a foiled coup in September.

The politician was placed in custody and taken to the main prison in Mali's capital Bamako on Wednesday, his son, Ousmane N'djim, said. ''He knows he is being arrested because of his political struggle."

The director of Joliba TV News has also been called for interrogation by the authorities.

Mali and Burkina Faso have been ruled by military regimes since coups in 2020 and 2022, capitalizing on popular discontent with previous democratically elected governments over security issues. Together with Niger, another junta-led country in the region, they form the Alliance of Sahel States, or AES.

N'Djim was one of the vice presidents of the National Transitional Council (CNT), Mali's legislative body under the junta. He later distanced himself from the military regime and said he favored a return to electoral democracy. In 2021, he was handed a six-month prison sentence after he criticized the military regime on social media.

The security situation in the three AES countries has worsened over the past couple of years, analysts say, with a record number of attacks by Islamic extremists. Government forces have been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants while cracking down on political dissent and journalists.

In June, Malian authorities arrested eleven opposition politicians and several activists.

Amnesty International called for N'Djim's release in a post on the social media platform X.