The Gao Lama association has launched legal proceedings against the current governor of Gao, Seydou Traoré, for “murder, assassination complicity and arson”. Facts date back to July 2016 protests repressed by the police in Gao, the main city in northern Mali.
Demonstrations took place all week to ask for his departure from the city. Seydou Traoré, governor of the Gao region, now has a complaint on his back following the violent demonstrations against the interim authorities in July 2016 in Gao.
“The peaceful march had been brought to the knowledge of the administrative authorities of Gao … But Mr. Traoré deployed a strong inertia force to prevent its holding”, explains Me Malik Ibrahim, lawyer of the Gao Lama association in the complaint that we were able to consult. The announced demonstration “unauthorized” by the authorities at the time of the incident was repressed with three people dead and several others injured. The Gao Lama association regrets that to date “the investigation remains in the deadlock” despite the promises of the government.
In support of their argument, the authors of the complaint also rely on the statements of a colonel held on international television at the time of the events. “It’s real shooting, but it’s shooting in the air. It’s not against anyone”, the senior officer said. Insisting that “there is no reason to shoot our brothers.” But according to the association, Seydou Traoré authorized this repression.
The governor of Gao, who has been criticized for several days by “poor governance” and “lack of respect for the communities”, is also accused of arson. Especially at the home of the unionist Ibrahim Harouna Traoré, a few months ago, who would have called upon him “on his unorthodox behavior” on local radios.
Contacted, Mr. Traoré testified that he had not been formally informed of any complaint. “It’s a media sham against me”, he says. A view shared by other observers for whom “it’s just a way to put pressure on him to leave the head” of the governorate of the region.