The former Malian Prime Minister, currently in prison, will stand trial in late December, reports said on Wednesday.
The judicial machine is running out of steam for Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga who is expected to face the dreaded Assize Court in charge of judging cases of economic crimes and financial delinquency at the end of the year.
This political figure in Mali, appointed Prime Minister in 2017 until 2019, has been imprisoned since August 26 in a case of alleged fraud dating back to 2014 when he was Minister of Defense and head of the intelligence services.
He is suspected by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), an independent Malian authority, of “fraud, forgery, use of forgeries, and favoritism” in the purchase of the presidential plane for 20 billion CFA francs in 2014. These charges could result in a prolonged stay in prison if he is found guilty at his trial at the end of the year.
The resident of the Central House of Arrest in Bamako will not receive “special treatment” according to the Malian head of state, Colonel Assimi Goïta who embarked on a crusade against “corruption and financial delinquency.”
Five months before the presidential election on February 27, 2022, when the junta has promised to return power to civilians, supporters of the former prime minister speak of a “political purge” in this case, which, according to them, was closed “without action” in 2018. The leader of ASMA-CFP (Alliance for Solidarity in Mali-Convergence of Patriotic Forces), who is said to have strong networks in Malian and regional security circles, has never publicly expressed his presidential ambitions, which are attributed to him by his party leaders.
CD/lb/abj/APA