Magistrates in “conflict”: Who are they?

Posted on 04/28/2023 at 2:37 p.m. by Mohamed Kenouvi

They are all magistrates but have not agreed for a few weeks on the functioning of Justice. Portrait of four “protagonists” who wage “war” on each other.

Mamadou Kassogue

From his two years (2019-2021) as Public Prosecutor at the High Court of Commune III in charge of the Economic Pole to his appointment to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Mamadou Kassogué, 49 , forged a reputation as an “incorruptible magistrate”. A member of the Autonomous Syndicate of the Judiciary (SAM), he made a name for himself by investigating the cases of personalities deemed untouchable. On his hunting board, the mayor of Bamako Adama Sangaré and Bakary Togola. But his image crumbled when in December 2020 he opened proceedings against Ras Bath, Vital Diop (former DG PMU) and Boubou Cissé, among others, for undermining state security. Many denounce an empty file and the indictment chamber of the Court of Appeal cancels the prosecution in April 2021. Three months later, Kassogué is appointed Minister of Justice.

Idrissa Hamidou Toure

At 38, the Public Prosecutor at the High Court of Commune IV is the best known in Mali and the most feared. To achieve this, the magistrate used a proven method, that of high-profile cases. Diaba Sora, Gaspi, Ras Bath, Issa Kaou N’Djim, to name but a few, paid the price. Before becoming a Prosecutor, Idrissa Hamidou Touré, whose model is the Frenchman Éric de Montgolfier, known for having made powerful men tremble, was a Substitute for 4 years. Described as bloodthirsty, he often had trouble with other actors in the middle. In 2014, then Substitute, he was suspended for disciplinary reasons. A suspension that he considers “unfair” and “illegal” and which created a dispute between him and Me Mohamed Aly Bathily, Minister of Justice at the time.

Cheick Mohamed Cherif Koné

He is the “rebel magistrate”. If there is one trait that characterizes him, it is his “warlike” attitude. Cheick Mohamed Chérif Koné, 64, is fearless. An experienced magistrate, he was until September 2021 First Lawyer at the Supreme Court of Mali. Dismissed after his denunciation of the arrest procedure of the late Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, Cheik Mohamed Chérif Koné has since become radicalized against the authorities of the Transition. In February 2023, he took over as head of the Coordination of the organizations of the February 20 Appeal, the objective of which is to abandon the draft new Constitution and respect the Transition deadline. He is President of the Syndicate Reference of Magistrates (REFSYMA), created in 2018, and of the Malian Association of Prosecutors and Prosecutors (AMPP), launched in 2014. He was also President of SAM before being disavowed in 2017 by peers.

Dramane Diarra

A close companion of Cheick Mohamed Chérif Koné, Dramane Diarra is also a member of the Syndicate Reference of Magistrates (REFSYMA) and the Malian Association of Prosecutors and Prosecutors (AMPP). He is also the General Rapporteur of the Coordination of the organizations of the Appeal of February 20. Former Public Prosecutor at the High Court of Commune IV of Bamako, Dramane Diarra, 50, is now at the National Directorate of Judicial Affairs and the Seal. Less present than Chérif Koné, he is no less virulent. He regularly denounces what he considers to be collusion between the Executive and important players in the judiciary, as well as “the banality and lightness with which Mali is administered”.