Mali: Idemia refutes any piracy, the opposition denounces
The Malian transitional authorities claimed, this Tuesday evening, February 13, to have recovered, thanks to a team of volunteer IT experts, civil status data of the population which, according to them, were “
taken hostage
” by the company French Idemia. The French company Idemia denies any intrusion. Malian opponent Ismaël Sacko denounces an illegal method.
View of the presidential palace in Bamako (illustration). SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP
By: David Baché
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In an official statement sent this Thursday to RFI, the French company refutes any intrusion and recalls that "
the Malian Ministry of Territorial Administration has always enjoyed the use of the system and its data, since the end of contractual services of the Idemia group
”. “
All data is stored on servers in administrative premises under the responsibility of services affiliated with the ministry, whose agents benefit from full access
,” responds the French company.
Another reaction, political this time, that of the Malian opponent Ismaël Sacko, president of the PSDA (African Social Democratic Party, targeted by a dissolution procedure initiated by the Malian authorities), and member of the opposition platform “Appel du 20 February”, which brings together political parties and civil society organizations demanding a return to constitutional order.
A “
setup to play on the patriotic and nationalist rope”
Ismaël Sacko has been living in exile in an African country for two years. While in Paris, he held a press conference this February 15 in the afternoon: "
They
(the Malian transitional authorities, editor's note)
say they have carried out a hack and they are proud of it
, the opponent is indignant Malian.
It's a crime, it's a mistake, they are violating the law on cybercrime, giving a bad example to young people. They could have simply paid the debt, because they acknowledge a debt! A State debt of five billion CFA Francs to the French private company. So for a serious state, it was normal to first pay the debt, and then recover the data legally. Now I know very well that this data was available. It was a setup to play on the patriotic and nationalist rope, as they know how to do.
»
00:52
Ismaël Sacko: “It was a set-up to play on the patriotic and nationalist rope”
David Bache
In September 2023, the Malian transitional government justified by this “
hostage-taking
” of civil status data the
indefinite
postponement of the presidential election initially scheduled for this month of February, and which was to put an end to the period of transition - even though a constitutional referendum was organized in June. The data recovery, officially announced, therefore renders this argument obsolete.
“
We hope that the Malian transitional authorities will very quickly propose a date for elections
,” reacts Ismaël Sacko, before immediately qualifying: “
They will not respect this date as usual, because they do not intend to go to elections, because they do not intend to leave power.
»
Read alsoBamako claims to have hacked a French company to recover electoral data
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