At the end of January, theali has notified international press correspondents that a new accreditation process will be put in place.
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This expulsion occurs in a context of tensions between Paris and Bamako. A special envoy from Young Africa has been “arrested” then expelled from Mali a few hours after arriving in the country. “The leadership of Young Africa condemns the decision taken by the Malian authorities to expel its special envoy Benjamin Roger”writes the magazine in a press release, Tuesday, February 8.
“Arriving in Bamako on the night of February 6 to 7, Benjamin Roger was arrested at his hotel by the police on Monday February 7 around 11 a.m. and taken to the premises of the Judicial Investigation Brigade, where he was questioned, then in those of the Air and Border Police, where he was notified of his expulsion”, explains the weekly.
According to management, the special envoy “had a valid entry visa and did not conceal his profession as a journalist or the fact that he came to exercise it – in all impartiality – in Mali”.
No international press journalist has been deported in recent years in Mali. However, at the end of January, Mali notified international correspondents that a new accreditation process was to be put in place. This accreditation is essential to come and work for an international media in Mali.
As the French presence in the Sahel comes into question, the ruling military junta last week expelled the French ambassador to Mali, marking a further hardening of relations between Bamako and Paris, while France still has around 4,000 soldiers in the region.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) for their part took a battery of economic and diplomatic measures against Mali on 9 January to sanction the junta’s intention to stay in power for several more years, after two putschs in August 2020 and then in May 2021.