Mali ex-prime minister to stand trial over social media post, lawyer says
BAMAKO — A Malian court has detained and charged former Prime Minister Moussa Mara over a social media post criticizing shrinking democratic space under military rule in the West African nation, his lawyer said late Friday.
Mara is one of few public figures in the country who has been willing to openly question moves taken this year to dissolve political parties and grant the military government, led by Assimi Goita, a five-year mandate without elections.
Last month, authorities formally approved Goita's five-year term and said it could be renewed as many times as necessary as Mali struggles to respond to a long-running jihadist insurgency.
Goita assumed power after military coups in 2020 and 2021.
Mara had been summoned several times for questioning this month over a social media post dated July 4 expressing solidarity with government critics who have been jailed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Texas Democrats refuse to go back to the state as they face threats of arrest and expulsion
Vikki Goodwin says she's not worried about the bribery allegations, daily fines and arrest warrants being levelled against her and her fellow Texas Democrats who have fled the state. Goodwin is one of dozens of House Democrats who have hunkered down in liberal states to deny Texas Republicans the quorum they need to vote on a new redistricting plan, championed by President Donald Trump, with the goal of bolstering Republican control of the legislature. But even as Gov. Greg Abbott is doing everything he can to compel the Democrats to return, Goodwin says she and her colleagues are gaining public support every day for their self-imposed exile. "As people are learning why we are doing this, they, too, are becoming outraged that we could have our governor bowing down to the president of the United States," Goodwin, who is in Illinois, told As It Happens guest host Rebecca Zandbergen. "The idea that we're drawing lines in order to pick more Republican representation, I think that just goes against everybody's idea of what a true democracy is." Trump demands 5 more seats Abbott has convened a special session to vote on the redistricting bill, which is expected to give the Republicans five extra seats and protect their narrow majority in next year's congressional midterm elections. But he can't pass a bill in the 150-member House without two-thirds of members present. Democrats hold 62 seats in the majority-Republican chamber, and at least 51 left the state, according to a Democratic aide. The lawmakers have mostly fled to the Democrat-led states of Illinois, New York and Massachusett. States are required to redistrict every 10 years based on the U.S. Census Bureau, but the current Texas map was passed just four years ago. Goodwin says the process to push through a new map mid-cycle has been rushed and undemocratic. "It's simply because Trump asked for it, and Abbott is willing to do whatever Trump asks," she said. Trump, himself, has made no secret of his desire to bolster Republican dominance in Texas. "We are entitled to five more seats," he told CNBC on Tuesday. In that same interview, Trump said gerrymandering goes both ways, and accused Democrat-led legislatures of drawing electoral maps in their own favour. "They go to Illinois for safety. But that's all gerrymandered. California is gerrymandered. We should have many more seats in Congress," he said. A White House official told Reuters that Trump wants Abbott to do "whatever is necessary" to get the new map passed. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said the plan is more than a power grab; it's "turbocharged racism" that will further dilute the voting power of racial minorities in the state. The new lines likely would make it harder for four Hispanic incumbents and two Black incumbents to retain their seats in 2026, according to The Associated Press. Texas Republicans dispute Wu's claims, noting the new map would create four new racially diverse districts, and increase the number of Hispanic-majority districts by one. 'There will be consequences' Abbott has called the Democrats who left the state "un-Texan" and is pulling out all the stops to force them back. He has threatened to remove them from their seats for absconding their duty — something legal experts say would be a lengthy process, not guaranteed to work, and would require new elections to fill vacant seats. The House has also issued civil arrest warrants for absent Democrats, and Abbott ordered state troopers to find and arrest them — something they are legally unable to do outside state boundaries. Under House rules, each representative faces a $500 US fine for every day they're absent. Abbott has said that any lawmaker who solicits funds to cover those costs could face bribery charges, and vowed to extradite any "potential out-of-state felons." "If you continue to go down this road, there will be consequences," House Speaker Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican, threatened from the chamber floor Monday. Asked about the bribery charge threats, Goodwin said: "Personally, I have not taken any money that has driven me to the decision to leave the state. This is purely out of the need to protect our democracy, the need to push back against Trump." As for the fines, she said: "We will find a way to cover those costs." Democrat-led states vow to fight fire with fire The state standoff has quickly become a national one. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — all Democrats — have each threatened to re-draw their own congressional district maps if Texas moves forward with its plan. Goodwin says the tactic of waiting out Abbott's special session can only work for so long. When this one ends on Aug. 19, she says, he's likely to call a new one. But her hope, she says, is that she and her colleagues will continue to gain public support from Texans of all stripes, and Abbott will be forced to abandon the bill in order to avoid jeopardizing his re-election. "That would be my ultimate goal," she said. "Stranger things have happened."
National Post
2 days ago
- National Post
FIRST READING: Mark Carney is pleasing old people and basically nobody else
First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post's own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here. Article content Three months after the federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney remains smack dab in the middle of his honeymoon period. Article content An approval rating of 61 per cent. Satisfaction with the government is at highs not seen since the first term of Justin Trudeau. Some polls have Carney's Liberals enjoying a 10-point lead over the Conservatives. Article content Article content In that cohort, 56 per cent of respondents favoured the Liberals against just 28 per cent prepared to vote Conservative. Article content This continues to make Canada the only Western democracy in which the usual demographics of political leanings have been flipped on their head. Article content Everywhere from the U.K. to Germany to the United States, young people continue to favour left-wing parties while old people favour right-wing parties. Article content In the recent Australian general elections, held just a week after Canada's, the left-wing Labor Party won a surprise victory by sweeping constituencies disproportionately populated by younger voters. Article content Some of Canada's peer countries may have conservative parties that are gaining support among young people, or are doing better than usual among younger cohorts. But Canada remains the outlier as a place in which the average 25-year-old is more likely to vote conservative than the average 65-year-old. Article content During the April federal election, in fact, voters in their 20s consistently emerged as one of the strongest single cohorts showing support for the Conservatives. Article content In one of the most surprising manifestations of the trend, a straw poll held among Canadian high school students ended up delivering a result that was more conservative than the general electorate. If it had been up to teenagers, Canada would have had a Conservative minority government. Article content The final days of the election also featured the equally bizarre spectacle of Conservative ads specifically targeting old white men in an attempt to arrest that cohort's stampede to the Carney Liberals.
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Young people more prone to believe in conspiracies, research shows
Hillary Clinton had Jeffrey Epstein killed. Barack Obama was not born in the United States. The pharmaceutical industry was responsible for the spread of COVID-19. These are all conspiracies with no basis in fact, says University of Ottawa professor Daniel Stockemer — but his research shows that theories like them are gaining traction among young people. In fact, people younger than 35 are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than other age groups, according to a recent study by Stockemer and co-author Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau that surveyed more than 380,000 people internationally. The research was recently published in the journal Political Psychology. "Conspiracy theories are now for everyone," Stockemer told CBC Radio's All In A Day, noting that between 20 and 25 per cent of the population believes in one. "But the young are slightly more likely to believe in them." If the problem isn't addressed, Stockemer said he expects the "democratic backsliding" he's seen all over the world to continue. "If we don't have a young population that stands up for the values of democracy ... who else will?" Why do young adults believe conspiracies? There are many reasons why young people are particularly susceptible, Stockemer said — including the fact the political world has become more divided and chaotic. "Right now, we're in a world of polarization," he said. "There is no compromise, no middle ground." Compounding that effect, Stockemer said, is that young people are being "alienated" from politics as mainstream politicians largely ignore their concerns — including during the last federal election. "The leaders didn't even come to the [University of Ottawa] to have a talk or anything," he said. "And then we wonder why young people have a higher tendency to go the populist or conspiracies route." Then there's technological leaps like the internet, smart phones and social media, Stockemer said, which allow conspiracy and misinformation to spread, especially among young people. The internet also potentially exposes them to every unfortunate incident that happens in the world, said Carmen Celestini, who teaches at the University of Waterloo and studies disinformation, extremists and conspiracy theorists. "That fear and that perpetual sense of disaster can lead people to believe in conspiracy theories," said Celestini, noting she wasn't surprised "even a little bit" by Stockemer and Bordeleau's findings. Influencers who tote extremist views and conspiracies also give their viewers someone or something to blame, she added. No 'quick fix' Widespread conspiracies and the problems inherent to the internet will require a "global response," said Celestini, one that will involve talking about the fears and emotions that led people to these conclusions. "It really is [about] having that transparent talk with your child about what it is that they're feeling, why they might believe some of these ideas and where the emotions behind it come from," she said. Stockemer said there's no "quick fix," but improving civic education and better regulating misinformation online would help. "To bring [young people] back, we need to also include them within the democratic politics much more than now," he said. And there could be immense consequences, he added, if we continue to neglect the susceptibility of young people to conspiracy theories. "Over the past 10 years, the number of democracies has declined [and] long-standing democracies like the United States [and] India are in serious danger of falling," he said. "If we continue the path we are continuing, I don't know how long some established democracies will survive. … And I think that's one of the far-reaching lessons from my research."
