A Malian court sentenced on Monday a prominent broadcaster and an influencer, who had both criticised the ruling junta, to seven years in jail, an AFP journalist saw.

The sentences are the latest issued to Malians critical of the unstable west African country’s military government, which came to power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.

Television and radio commentator Mohamed Youssouf Bathily — alias Ras Bath — was convicted by the court in Bamako of criminal conspiracy and discrediting the state, alongside Rokia Doumbia, a noted campaigner known online as “Rose, the cost of living”.

Both had been in custody for several years following the airing of a 2023 programme by the journalist dedicated to the economic difficulties facing ordinary Malians.

They were given three years’ suspended sentences on top of their seven-year jail terms.

Having been held since March 2023, Ras Bath’s emaciated and gaunt features shocked many Malians when he took the stand in his trial, which opened on August 10 at the Bamako Court of Appeal’s criminal chamber.

Two lawyers told AFP on condition of anonymity that the prosecutor had told the court that “Ras Bath is a danger” to the junta and “must be kept a long way from social media and the radio”.

Prosecutors alleged the broadcaster and influencer were “in association” with each other, with Ras Bath having invited “Rose” onto his show on two previous occasions.

Ras Bath’s lawyers denied the accusations.

The broadcaster’s father, former government minister Mohamed Aly Bathily, who was also serving as his son’s defence counsel, told AFP that they had not yet decided whether to appeal.