A second disappearance after Mountaga Tall’s initial abduction

According to the family’s collective of lawyers, Cheick Mamadou Tall has been missing since May 16, following a telephone call. This alarming incident occurred just two weeks after his father’s abduction on May 2 in Bamako. Mountaga Tall’s family maintains that the respected lawyer was taken by masked individuals. Since then, no official details have been released concerning his location or the precise circumstances of his disappearance.

A prominent critic of the military government

Mountaga Tall, a former influential member of the M5 movement which played a role in the ousting of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in 2020, initially supported the military authorities upon their ascent to power before becoming one of their most outspoken critics. The lawyer is currently representing several military personnel accused of “attempting to destabilize institutions” and had also legally challenged the transitional authorities’ decision to dissolve political parties.

An increasingly volatile political climate

These disappearances unfold within Mali’s fragile security and political landscape. In late April, a series of attacks, claimed by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda affiliate, and rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), targeted various strategic positions held by the military regime. In response to this grave situation, the Tall family’s legal representatives are urgently appealing to administrative and judicial authorities to exert every effort to locate both men and to shed full light on their mysterious disappearances.