The former Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cissé is not on the run, but “
in a safe place
” in Bamako, contrary to what the justice suggests which implicates him as the brain of an attempt to overthrow the authorities, have indicated his lawyers this Friday.
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Boubou Cissé, the last head of government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, overthrown by a military coup on August 18, 2020, is one of the seven civilian personalities questioned at the end of December by the courts.
The latter considers them to be the protagonists of a "
destabilization enterprise
" of the authorities set up by the colonels to carry out a transition supposed to bring civilians back to power.
It would have been a question of discrediting the authorities and causing trouble until the fall of the government, according to the prosecution.
Five of these personalities were imprisoned.
But Boubou Cissé, him, "
remained untraceable,
" said the prosecution.
Boubou Cissé "
is in Bamako and in a safe place
", one of his lawyers, Me Marcel Ceccaldi, told the press.
"
Boubou Cissé is not on the run,
" added another lawyer, Kassoum Tapo.
The latter mentioned an intrusion, at the end of December, of several men suspected of belonging to state security at Mr. Cissé's home in his absence, meaning that Mr. Cissé had no guarantee as to his safety.
Mr. Cissé reported this week in an interview with Deutsche Welle that these gunmen had "
assaulted
" people in his home.
“
If I had simply been summoned in due form, obviously I would have presented myself to answer questions (...) given the fact that we were faced with arbitrariness, I took shelter until I am summoned in due form,
”he said.
He indicated that he was in Mali, without giving more details.
The prosecution considers that Mr. Cissé is at the heart of the plot and lends him the intention to stand for the presidential election that the authorities are supposed to organize within 18 months to transfer power to civilians, said a source familiar with the matter.
"
It's not on the agenda at home
," Cissé told Deutsche Welle.
"
There is nothing in the file,
" said Me Ceccaldi, alongside the group of lawyers defending the accused.
The prosecution invokes clandestine meetings, a "
subversive
"
propaganda
to which a popular radio host nicknamed "
Ras Bath
"
would have lent
, an effort to raise 200 million CFA francs (305,000 euros) which would have served for example to instrumentalize unions, but also ritual sacrifices and consultations with important marabouts, said the same source close to the investigation.
Apart from Mr. Cissé and "
Ras Bath
", four men were charged and imprisoned.
