APA – Bamako (Mali)
The source of the blasphemous remark against Malian Muslims has been sentenced to 12 months in prison.
The verdict was finally delivered on Tuesday.
The Malian justice system deliberated on the case of the “kamite” movement in which writer Doumbi Fakoly and five other young people were charged with ”offenses of a religious nature that could cause public disorder.”
At the end of the trial, Fakoly was sentenced to 12 months in prison, eight of which were suspended, after the court reclassified the facts as crimes of a religious nature, in accordance with article 58 of the penal code.
Through this sentence, Doumbi Fakoly should regain his freedom very quickly, as he was placed under a detention order last November.
His other companions, such as the brother of the author of the “blasphemous act,” Salif Dembele, Diakaridia Traore alias “Manoko,” Lamine Doumbia known as “Kolokoto,” Aboubacar Keita and Naman Doumbia, were released by the jury.
It all started when a Malian national by the name of Mamadou Dembele (still unaccounted for) made remarks deemed “blasphemous” against Muslims, after having used insults against the Koran and the Prophet Mohamed.
His act elicited strong reactions within the Muslim community.
As a result, the Public Prosecutor at the Bamako Court of Appeal opened an investigation on Dembélé.
Subsequently, the writer Doumbi Fakoly, one of the elders of the “kamite” movement, gave his support to the Dembele.
Following this reaction, he was arrested along with five others for “concealment of information” before being placed under arrest.
This case was accelerated in part because of the large-scale mobilization on Friday, November 4, to condemn the act and demand justice.
Doumbi Fakoly is a writer, essayist and author of several books.
Born on January 1, 1944 in Kati and of Malian nationality, he lived a good part of his childhood in Dakar, Senegal before leaving for France where he pursued higher education.
He is a great admirer of Marcus Garvey and scholar Cheikh Anta Diop who inspired his career as a major figure of pan-African literature since 1983 when he published his first novel “Mort pour la France” (Death for France) with Editions Karthala.
Doumbi Fakoly advocates a break with the Abrahamic religions for Africans to adhere to Kemitism.