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The investigation comes after half a dozen prominent figures were arrested earlier this month.
Authorities in Mali said they have opened an investigation into the state security breach, a move after half a dozen prominent figures were arrested for questioning earlier this month.
The country, which suffered a coup in August, is in the hands of a transitional government that is expected to oversee the return to civilian rule within 18 months.
The prosecutor’s office in the capital Bamako declared that a “preliminary investigation” had been opened by judicial investigators “following a report by the security services relating to violations of state security”.
“The accused … were made available to the [investigators]”Prosecutor Mamoudou Kassogue said in a statement, adding that the investigation was” in progress “.
Six people were arrested on December 21, including Aguibou Tall, who is the half-brother of former Prime Minister Boubou Cissé, and the secretary of the president’s cabinet, Sekou Traoré, according to security sources.
Another well-known figure is activist and radio presenter Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, who is popular among young Malians.
As their arrests approached, social media said there had been a plan to “destabilize” the transitional institutions set up after the August 18 coup.
Cissé, the last prime minister of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, has denied any involvement in such projects.
His home in Bamako was raided by unidentified men on December 24, his lawyers said.
The Malian Human Rights Association (AMDH) said it visited people detained at a gendarmerie base between December 24 and 27.
Bathily’s attorney, Zana Kone, said her client was fine and had not been mistreated, although her dreadlock-style hair was shaved.
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