Mali: release on bail for Mahamadou Camara, Bouaré Fily Sissoko remains detained

Former Minister of Communication of Mali Mahamadou Camara (illustration image) RFI/Pierre Pinto

Text by: David Baché

3 min

Former minister Mahamadou Camara was released from prison on Thursday afternoon, March 16. Release on bail, this is what specifies a statement from the Supreme Court of Mali. Mrs. Bouaré Fily Sissoko, also a former minister, did not pay this bail, set at 500 million CFA francs. She therefore remains incarcerated. These two personalities are being prosecuted as part of an investigation into embezzlement of public money.

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In his statement, the prosecutor general of the Supreme Court, Mamadou Timbo, explains that to benefit from his release, Mahamadou Camara had to pay bail of 500 million CFA francs (750,000 euros), in the form of ten land titles. He had been imprisoned for a year and a half. In the entourage of the former Minister of Communication and former director of cabinet, with the rank of minister, of the late President IBK, it is specified that provisional freedom, without any restriction of movement, had been obtained last June, but that its effectiveness was delayed by an appeal and then by a request for counter-expertise of land titles, issued by the Attorney General of the Supreme Court.

We have not gone halfway, says a relative of Mahamadou Camara, because what matters to him is to be exonerated. And to continue: "He remained to face justice, because he has nothing to reproach himself, and we want to make him pay instead of others. The Attorney General of the Supreme Court also indicates that "the judicial investigation is taking its course (...) in strict compliance with the presumption of innocence (...) and the rights of the defence.

Former Economy Minister Bouaré Fily Sissoko, imprisoned since August 2021, could also be released, but she has not paid the 500 million CFA francs and therefore remains in prison. "We don't have them, but in any case, it's a question of principle," said a person close to the former minister. Why pay when the prosecution is unable to provide evidence? She wants a public trial to clear her honor and does not understand that it takes so long.

Mahamadou Camara and Bouaré Fily Sissoko are being prosecuted as part of a Malian judicial investigation into two cases of embezzlement of public funds dating back to 2014: the purchase of the presidential plane and overcharged military equipment contracts in 2014. This is the same procedure in which former Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maïga, who died in custody a year ago, was himself prosecuted.

Other personalities, including politicians and businessmen, are targeted. As refugees abroad, international arrest warrants have been issued against them by the Malian courts. The Prosecutor General of the Supreme Court of Mali deplores in his statement that these warrants have not been executed by the courts concerned. According to several lawyers, this non-execution is explained by the lack of guarantees for the accused to obtain a fair trial.

Mali: release on bail for Mahamadou Camara, Bouaré Fily Sissoko remains detained

Mali: release on bail for Mahamadou Camara, Bouaré Fily Sissoko remains detained

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