The former Malian President, Amadou Toumani Toure has been charged with treason and is due to stand trial after the country sworn in a new High Court to deal with the trial.
Amadou Toumani Toure was ousted in a bloody coup d’état led by the then Captain, Amadou Sanogo who accused him of failing to deal with the insurgency of the Tuareg separatists in the north.
Mr. Sanogo was promoted to General after he handed the administration of the country to an interim government, paving way for the French intervention but he has been arrested and also awaiting trial for murder and force disappearance charges.
Malian State Radio announced on late Thursday that the government brought a case before the National Assembly in December that Mr. Toure failed in his duty as Commander-in-Chief of the Malian Armed Forces and as President to prevent foreign forces from seizing national territory.
The announcement further said Mr. Toure will be tried before a new High Court of Justice, whose members were chosen by the National Assembly.
Local reporters also say Mr. Toure has also been accused of destroying military equipments and promoting army personnel to positions for which they were unqualified.
“It has 18 members, including nine tenured judges and nine deputies. They were sworn in at the National Assembly,” Member of Parliament, Mamadou Diarrassouba was quoted by the Reuters African Service as saying.
Mr. Amadou Toumani Toure resides in the Senegalese capital, Dakar and local reporters say he might be tried in absentia as the Senegalese government might hesitate to extradite him to face the charges.
The occupation of northern Mali by al Qaeda-linked groups ended in January 2013 when France sent more than 4,000 troops to stop the advancement of the militants.
The United Nations Security Council has authorized the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali to help restore stability in the country.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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