The National Institute for Judicial Training (INFJ) Me Demba Diallo, in partnership with the university “la Scuola Sant’Anna” of Rome in Italy, is organizing from September 2 to 5, 2024 in Bamako, a training session for around twenty investigating magistrates and heads of prosecution and jurisdiction on “investigation techniques on national and international terrorism”.
This session is part of a project to strengthen the capacities of African judges, implemented by the Scuola Sant’Anna in Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, DRC, Mali and Niger. For the Malian Minister of Justice, Mahamoudou Kassogué, who presided over the opening ceremony, the intensification of the fight against terrorism, at the military level, must go hand in hand with the strengthening of the judicial system in the face of the phenomenon.
“The judicialization of procedures against terrorists and other criminals apprehended during military operations, under the control and support of provost units, must be carried out in conditions of efficiency and professional rigor required in this area,” he maintained. To do this, he continued, the upgrading and strengthening of the capacities of judicial personnel, in particular magistrates responsible for terrorism cases, must be a permanent quest.
According to him, it is on the strength of this that, thanks to a major reform, the specialized prosecutor’s office for the fight against terrorism and organized cross-border crime was reorganized to put a special prosecutor at its head. For his part, the Director General of the INFS, Toubaye Koné, indicated that the adoption of new methods of investigation to fight against terrorism has become essential, because the terrorist threat is permanent. “This is why we must constantly adapt and take into account changes in the behavior of terrorists,” he declared.
Italian Ambassador Stephano Antonio Dejak reiterated his country’s support for Mali in its quest for total sovereignty. According to him, his country has decided to put its immense expertise in the fight against terrorism acquired after 40 years of fighting the scourge from 1970 to 2000. “Since then, Italy is the only country in Western Europe not to have been hit by terrorists for three decades. This demonstrates its ability to effectively fight this scourge,” boasted the Malian diplomat.
The Rise/Mali