MALI'S COURTS TAKE ON CORRUPTION IN SPECIAL SESSION

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