Abidjan – A Malian cyberactivist has been detained in Abidjan for more than a month accused of gathering intelligence for a foreign power to undermine Ivory Coast, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Diplomatic relations between Mali and Ivory Coast have been tense since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021 which brought General Assimi Goita to power in Bamako.
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has strongly opposed the coups which have shaken several countries in west Africa’s Sahel region in recent years.
Abdoul Aziz Maiga, known as “Aziz Maiga does not lie”, was arrested and taken into custody on May 3 and later placed under a detention order, his French lawyer Vincent Brengarth said in a letter to the International Federation of Journalists.
He is accused of “gathering intelligence for the benefit of a foreign power with the aim of undermining the integrity of Ivory Coast and national security”, the letter said.
On his social media accounts, Maiga describes himself as a journalist, blogger and analyst and regularly shares information about the conflict in Mali, often favourable to the ruling junta.
“His publications, followed by more than 150,000 people, which are in no way subversive and are protected on the basis of freedom of expression, are the sole cause of these unfounded proceedings,” Brengarth said in a statement, calling for his immediate release.
Authorities in Ivory Coast have not commented on the arrest.
In July last year, Mamadou Hawa Gassama, a member of junta-ruled Mali’s transitional parliament, was arrested in Ivory Coast for “insulting” the head of state and “disseminating offensive expressions online”.
He was freed from jail under a presidential pardon from Ouattara days after being sentenced to three years in prison.
He had referred to Ouattara as an “enemy of Mali” during an interview with Malian media and apologised during his trial.
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Source: AFP
