In Mali, the signatory parties of the Declaration of March 31 denounce in a press release the “unavowed aims” of the transitional authorities. This group, which brings together almost all the political parties for the return to constitutional order, reacts to the placement in pre-trial detention on June 24 of ten of its members. They are accused by the courts, in particular, of “opposition to the exercise of legitimate authority” causing “harm to public order” and will remain in prison for the rest of the procedure. A decision deemed “unfair” by these political parties.
For the members of the Declaration of March 31, these legal proceedings accompanied by incarcerations constitute “another assault by the authorities in place against fundamental freedoms, protected by our Constitutions and our laws”.
While the political leaders placed in custody on Monday were arrested on Thursday evening at the home of one of them, during a working meeting, this gathering recalls “the inviolability of private meetings enshrined in Ordinance No. 36/PCG of 1959 on freedom of assembly.” An ordinance precisely “cited” by the decree of April 10, which established the suspension of political activities of Mali’s parties and associations, and which today justifies the indictment of the ten defendants. A decree deemed “liberticidal” by these opposition parties, and which has also been the subject of several appeals to the courts, without success.
This article is originally published on fr.news.yahoo.com
