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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000077 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2019 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM ML
SUBJECT: MALI'S COURTS TAKE ON CORRUPTION IN SPECIAL SESSION 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Peter Newman, Embassy Bamako, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: From December 30, 2009 to January 29, 2010 
the Court of Appeals of Bamako held a special session to try 
a series of corruption cases.  Twelve cases were presented 
involving 52 defendants accused of having stolen a total of 
USD 3.7 million of public money.  The cases covered a wide 
variety of Malian government institutions, including the 
Office du Niger, the Ministry of Defense, Gabriel Toure 
Hospital in Bamako, and a number of banks in which the 
government holds an interest.  Ultimately, the court handed 
down 35 convictions, 16 acquittals, and the Gabriel Toure 
Hospital case was held over for the next session.  Although 
the prosecutor in charge of the corruption trials told the 
Embassy there are limits to what the legal system can 
accomplish by itself, this session is undoubtedly positive. 
Of particular significance, the session marked the first time 
a prosecution has resulted from the reports of the Office of 
the Auditor General.  End Summary. 
 
CLEARING THE BACKLOG 
 
¶2. (SBU) As part of its continued effort to ease its case 
backlog, the Court of Appeals of Bamako held an additional, 
special session from December 30, 2009 to January 29, 2010. 
As before, the Court dedicated the session to a specific 
subject matter, in this case corruption and theft of public 
funds.  The 12 cases presented to the Court demonstrated that 
few Malian government institutions can be considered immune 
from  corruption.  Although there were a number of cases 
concerning corruption in the banking system, there were also 
cases touching the Gabriel Toure Hospital, the Malian social 
security institution (INPS), the Treasury, the Ministry of 
Defense, and the Office du Niger. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On January 11, PolOff attended part of the trial of 
six men accused of embezzling money during their employment 
at the Office du Niger.  The prosecution accused the men of 
collecting from villagers the fees paid to the Office for 
irrigated water, but failing to turn over the totality of 
that money to the state.  Of particular significance, this 
represented, to the best of the Embassy's knowledge, the 
first time that a prosecution has resulted from the work and 
reports of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).  In 
court, the auditor assigned by the OAG testified to the 
office's methodology, and in a compelling narrative explained 
how the OAG reached the conclusion that the six suspects had 
altered Office du Niger records to hide their embezzlement. 
Ultimately, two of the defendants were acquitted, two were 
sentenced to time served, and two received sentences of five 
years imprisonment. 
 
WITH ALL MEANS AVAILABLE 
 
4.(SBU) In a highly publicized case, Prosecutor Souleymane 
Coulibaly accused nine military officers and two civilians of 
embezzling close to USD 650,000 from the Ministry of Defense. 
 The fraud involved falsifying records and food vouchers to 
exaggerate what the Office of Subsistence at the Ministry was 
paying to the company Grand Cereals Distributor of Mali 
(GDCM) for food for the troops.  The defendants were accused 
of pocketing the difference once the Treasury reimbursed the 
Ministry.  This fraud was discovered by the Ministry of 
Defense in an internal investigation, and was referred to the 
Minister of Justice for prosecution.  Sentences imposed 
ranged from time served to 20 years imprisonment for the 
three leading culprits. 
 
5.(C) In a meeting with the Embassy on January 25, Prosecutor 
Coulibaly conceded that there are limits to what the courts 
can do in the fight against corruption.  Noting that 
corruption is "killing" Malian society, Coulibaly said that 
multiple systems of control were needed to combat the 
scourge, of which the legal system was only one tool.  By 
itself, Coulibaly continued, the legal system is 
insufficient, because not all cases of corruption come to the 
attention of the courts, and those that do can take years to 
be prosecuted.  Moreover, many Malian judges have limited 
expertise in financial crimes.  Some, Coulibaly lamented, are 
not even aware they have the authority to seize assets to 
cover fines or reimbursements ordered by the court. What is 
needed, according to Coulibaly, is the political will to hold 
people accountable, by instituting a zero tolerance policy in 
government institutions and immediately firing anyone guilty 
of even the smallest act of corruption.  Coulibaly was 
hopeful, however, saying, "I know that at the top of the 
State, the President is committed to fighting corruption with 
all means available." 
 
6.(C) Others are less certain.  The newspaper, Le Republicain 
(a generally opposition-leaning daily), printed a scathing 
 
BAMAKO 00000077  002 OF 002 
 
 
critique of the trials, noting that none of the defendants on 
trials were "big fish."  This is because, the Republican 
claimed, the government has prioritized reimbursement of 
stolen funds over punishment of corrupt officials. 
Therefore, those who are able to reimburse even a portion of 
what they have stolen are effectively immune from prosecution. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶7. (C) While corruption will continue to plague Mali for 
years to come, and the Prosecutor is right to say that 
combatting it requires a multi-pronged, zero-tolerarance 
approach with high level support, these prosecutions are a 
sign that the democratic process is working, and continuing 
to evolve slowly for the better,  in Mali.  End Comment. 
 
MILOVANOVIC