The IPI global network calls on the authorities in Mali to release journalists imprisoned over their reporting and criticism of the military authorities and to end the use of cybercrime and criminal laws to target journalists and public-interest reporting.
On August 3, Malian journalist Chahana Takiou, editor of 22 Septembre, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, with six months suspended, and fined on charges of undermining the credibility of the state through the judicial system. He had been arrested in June by the National Cybercrime Unit after criticising the use of cybercrime provisions to target journalists in remarks he made at the Pan-African Media Forum in Bamako.
Takiou is among several journalists currently facing imprisonment or prosecution in Mali over their journalistic work.
Abdrahamane Keita of Le Témoin was detained on June 9 over comments that he made during a live media programme concerning the security situation in northern Mali. He was charged with undermining national unity and the credibility of the state and disseminating false and misleading information. His trial, initially scheduled for August 17, was postponed to August 31.
On August 10, 2026, the trial of Malian radio and television commentator Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, known as Ras Bath, began. Bathily is charged with criminal association and undermining the credibility of the state through information and communication technologies. The case is the latest in a series of criminal proceedings against Bathily, who has been in detention since his arrest in March 2023 following public comments about the death in custody of former Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga. His prolonged detention and successive prosecutions illustrate the broader use of criminal law and cybercrime-related provisions to target critical voices and journalists in Mali.
“The escalating weaponisation of cybercrime provisions to target journalists is a deeply alarming trend that continues to intensify across Africa, including in Mali, Zambia and Nigeria, among others. This trend shows the urgent need to repeal these provisions and ensure that cybercrime legislation is aligned with regional and international standards on freedom of expression”, said IPI Africa Programme Lead Nompilo Simanje.
She added: “We call on authorities in Mali to release all journalists imprisoned in connection with their work, and to end the misuse of criminal and cybercrime provisions to suppress critical reporting.”
The Malian authorities amended the country’s Penal Code in December 2024, incorporating provisions previously contained in the 2019 cybercrime law. A specialised cybercrime unit, the Pôle national de lutte contre la cybercriminalité, has also been established to enforce offences involving digital and telecommunications technologies. Several critical journalists have been arrested and imprisoned under the new penal code.
‘’We want a healthy media environment with legislation that protects journalists in the exercise of their profession. The expansion of digital technology must be an opportunity and not an obstacle to the thriving of press freedom’’, Dante Bandiangou, president of the national umbrella organisation of press defence groups, Maison de la Presse, told IPI.
In March 2026, IPI published a feature on the widening crackdown against independent reporting in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.