Gen. Amadou Haya Sanogo, leader of the March 2012 coup [5] that plunged Mali into civil war [6], was arrested Nov. 27 on charges of murder, complicity to murder, assassination and kidnapping. According to one of the arresting soldiers, Sanogo had repeatedly ignored summons [7] by Mali's Ministry of Justice [8]. Twenty-five armed soldiers arrested Sanogo in his home [9] in Bamako and took him to appear before a judge, after which he remained in custody.
Frustrated by an apparent lack of progress in handling Taureg rebellion in northern Mali, Sanogo led soldiers in a military coup in March 2012, ousting then-President Amadou Toumani Toure [10]. In the weeks following the coup, Taureg rebels launched a rapid advance, capturing multiple cities within Mali [11]. [The Tuareg rebels were themselves usurped by jihadists [12] in the following weeks.] The intervention of over 4,000 French troops [13] in January finally dispatched the rebels. Although Sanogo assured the international community in April that he would return the country to constitutional rule [14], multiple advocacy organizations reported that forces loyal to Sanogo were abducting and torturing opposition soldiers and journalists [15].
From Jurist [16], Nov. 27. Used with permission.
