Mali court sentences former prime minister to two years in jail

A Malian court has sentenced former Prime Minister Moussa Mara to two years in prison over a social media post that criticized military rulers for shrinking
democratic space in the West African nation, his lawyer said on Monday.
Mara is among a handful of public figures to openly question Assimi Goita’s military government, which earlier this year dissolved political parties and granted itself a new five-year mandate without elections. His lawyer, Mountaga Tall, posted on social media site X that Mara had also been fined 500,000 CFA ($887.10).
Amnesty International said in a statement that Mara’s sentence was part of a wider crackdown on dissent, citing several examples of journalists and activists that had been detained after criticizing Mali’s military rulers.