Court to deliver judgment in case filed by former members of Mali’s Military Committee

The ECOWAS Court of Justice will on Tuesday, 10th November 2020 deliver judgment in a case brought by former members of the National Committee for the Recovery of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDRE) of Mali alleging the violation of their fundamental rights following their prolonged detention in 2012.

Captain Issa Tangara and 11 others, including General Amadou Aya Sanogo, claimed that their detention for various offences and committal by a trial judge in Mali based on the outcome of a ‘biased judicial investigation’ by the judge violated their right to liberty, presumption of innocence and trial within reasonable time.

Counsels Issa Coulibaly and Mariam Diawara representing applicants in suit no ECW/CCJ/CCJ/20/19 equally alleged their right to fair hearing and human dignity were also violated by the government.

They are therefore asking the Court for an order compelling the Respondent, the Republic of Mali, to end the violations and pay 500 million CFA francs as compensation to each Applicant for the violations.

On their part, Counsel to the Respondent, Mr Issaka Keita urged the Court to reject the Applicants’ claims arguing that the interim order for the Applicants’ committal pending the hearing of the matter in its merit did not constitute rights violation, and that the national court has ordered another expert’s report on the findings at the request of the Applicants and that no criminal sentence has been ordered.

Mr Keita further argued that the Applicants were not victims of arbitrary detention because of the complexity and criminal nature of their case (bordering on kidnapping, assassination and complicity) pending before a national court.  The Counsel therefore urged the Court to declare the allegations of violations as non-established and the reliefs sought by the Applicants as unfounded.

The matter will be adjudicated by Honourable Justices Edward Amoako Asante, Gberi-Be Ouattara and Dupe Atoki.

Also scheduled for judgment on the same date is a suit filed by a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, Counsellor Kabineh Muhammad Ja’neh challenging his removal from office and replacement with a former Vice President of the ECOWAS Court, Justice Yusif Kaba.

Two other cases are listed for judgment, bringing the number of cases for judgment to four. One of them was file by one Pakile Kolie and others against the Republic of Guinea in suit no ECW/CCJ/APP/50/18 while the second was filed by one Fodi Mamane and 14 others against the Republic of Niger in suit no ECW/CCJ/APP/02/18.