On May 3, 2026, gendarmes arrested Malian journalist Abdoul Aziz Maïga in Ivory Coast’s capital Abidjan and took him into custody for questioning, according to a statement from his lawyers and a video Maïga published after his release.
The Bamako-based journalist, who publishes Malian political and security news on social media under the name "Aziz Maïga ne ment pas,” said in the video that he arrived “in transit” in Abidjan four days earlier for “personal reasons.”
Mali has been battling jihadist and separatist insurgencies since 2012, leading to a coup in 2020, with soldiers promising to restore security. Mali’s southern neighbor Ivory Coast condemned the military takeover, straining diplomatic relations. Maïga reports extensively on the military leadership’s activities.
“I was asked what I was really doing in Côte d'Ivoire. Who do I work with? I replied that I am only a journalist who supports his country, who loves his country,” Maïga said.
On May 26, a judge charged Maïga with gathering information for a foreign power and ordered his detention in the Abidjan Penitentiary Center.
“His posts, which are followed by more than 150,000 people, are not subversive in nature and are protected under the right to freedom of expression. They are the sole basis for these unfounded proceedings,” said Maïga’s lawyers.
On June 19, Maïga was released due to a lack of evidence, the journalist said.
CPJ's early September 2026 calls to request comment from Ivory Coast’s justice ministry were not answered.