Mali’s former civilian prime minister, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, who was dismissed in November after criticising the ruling junta, has been charged with embezzlement of public funds and remanded in custody following a Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday.
Lawyer Cheick Oumar Konare confirmed that Maiga faces charges of embezzlement, forgery, and the use of false documents, though no trial date has been set. He said Maiga remained calm and trusted the judicial process.
Eight of Maiga’s former colleagues have also been detained, while his former chief of staff has been released pending trial.
Maiga’s arrest last week came days after the junta launched a wave of detentions over an alleged coup plot within the army. His removal from office in November 2024 had already signalled the tightening grip of Colonel Assimi Goita’s military government, which reneged on its pledge to restore civilian rule by March 2024.
Maiga, appointed prime minister after the 2021 coup, was sacked after publicly criticising the junta’s lack of clarity on returning power to civilians. He was later replaced by General Abdoulaye Maiga, the government’s former spokesman.
Mali, plagued by jihadist insurgencies since 2012, has turned away from Western allies such as France to deepen political and military ties with Russia. Human rights groups and local activists regularly accuse the Malian army and its Russian partners of committing atrocities against civilians, while the junta continues to suppress dissent.
In July, a bill passed by the military-appointed legislature granted Goita a renewable five-year presidential mandate without elections.