A journalist named Aliou Toure has disappeared in junta‑ruled Mali after helping organise a press conference that called for the release of a detained colleague, his collective association said on Friday. Toure served as secretary for the Collective for the Development of the Republic (CDR), which reported that it has had “no news of our administrative secretary” since Thursday evening. Since the press conference, “Aliou Toure has not been seen by his family nor by those close to him and even less by his colleagues,” the group said in a statement, adding that “all attempts to contact him through our usual channels have been in vain.”
The Maison de la presse, an organization that defends media workers, also expressed concern and urged the authorities “to do everything to find him safe and sound.” Toure had helped set up the press conference to demand the release of Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, also known as Ras Bath, a leading figure in the CDR. Bathily was taken into custody on 13 March after claiming that former prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga—who died in detention a year ago—had been “assassinated.” Maiga served as prime minister from 2017 to 2019 under President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and was overthrown in August 2020 by army officers who now run the nation amid protests over his handling of the long‑running jihadist insurgency.
Toure had also taken over Ras Bath’s radio programme on Renouveau FM. “The state is the guarantor of the freedom and security of all citizens,” the CDR said in its statement. Dissident voices continue to struggle to be heard in Mali. Reporters Without Borders warned this week that it is becoming increasingly difficult to work as a journalist in the Sahel nation, caught between armed groups, jihadist violence, and pressure from the authorities and the military regime.
Comments are closed for this story.