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A Malian court has sentenced a prominent broadcaster and a social media activist to seven years in prison for criminal conspiracy and discrediting the state.
Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, known as Ras Bath, and Rokia Doumbia, a campaigner who goes by “Rose, the cost of living,” received their sentences on Monday at the Bamako Court of Appeal’s criminal chamber, an AFP journalist observed.
The pair also received three-year suspended sentences. Both had been held in detention since 2023 after Bathily aired a programme about the economic struggles of ordinary Malians.
Bathily’s gaunt and emaciated appearance during his trial, which opened on August 10, drew shock from observers.
He has been in custody since March 2023.
Two lawyers who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said the prosecutor described Bathily as “a danger” to the junta and argued he “must be kept a long way from social media and the radio.”
Prosecutors alleged that Bathily and Doumbia were linked, claiming the broadcaster had invited the activist onto his show on two prior occasions.
Defence lawyers rejected the accusations.
Bathily, known for his direct style and the motto “shock to educate,” has built a large following, particularly among young Malians, while also facing repeated legal challenges.
He was first arrested in Mali in August 2016 for “incitement to disobedience among the troops” before being released two days later under pressure from his supporters.
In July 2017, while abroad, he was sentenced in absentia to 12 months in prison, without serving any time.
He also took part in the 2020 M5-RFP protest movement against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was later overthrown by army officers on the promise of curbing the country’s long-running jihadist insurgency.
In December 2020, the broadcaster was arrested again in a case involving an alleged plot against the junta. After the case was dismissed for lack of evidence, he regained his freedom in April 2021.
In July 2023, he was acquitted of separate charges that he falsely claimed that former prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga had been “assassinated” while in detention under the junta.
Since coming to power, the army has imposed severe restrictions on freedoms in Mali, squeezing the space for dissident voices through the courts, coercion and the dissolution of political parties.
Under General Assimi Goita, the junta has failed to keep its promise to hand power back to civilians by March 2024.
Mali ranks 121st out of 180 countries in the 2026 edition of media watchdog Reporters Without Borders‘ World Press Freedom Index.
The Sahel country has been wracked since 2012 by a serious security crisis, notably fuelled by violence from jihadists allied to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, along with criminal gangs and armed separatists.
