Journalist Missing In Mali After Press Conference

A journalist, Aliou Toure, has disappeared in junta-ruled Mali after a press conference he helped organise to call for the release of a detained colleague, his collective association said Friday.

Toure operated as a secretary for the Collective for the Development of the Republic which said it was “without news of our administrative secretary” since Thursday evening.

Since the press conference “Aliou Toure has not been seen by his family nor by those close to him and even less by his colleagues,” the group said in a statement.

“All attempts to contact him through our usual channels have been in vain.”

The “Maison de la presse”, which defends media workers, also voiced “concern”, urging the authorities “to do everything to find him safe and sound”.

Aliou Toure helped set up the press conference to push for the release of Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, aka Ras Bath, a leading figure in the CDR.

He was placed in custody on March 13 after claiming former prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, who died in detention a year ago, had been “assassinated”.

AFP