Six associates of Bah N'Daw — Mali's first transitional president, who was overthrown in a May 2021 internal military coup — are standing trial before the criminal chambers of Bamako's court of appeal on charges of "attempted conspiracy against the government." The defendants, including former state security chief Colonel Kassoum Goïta and former presidential secretary-general Kalilou Doumbia, have been held for nearly five years after being abducted and tortured by state security services in late 2021. Their lawyers argue the case is politically motivated, and the trial highlights the broader pattern of repression under Mali's ruling military junta, which has governed without elections for nearly six years.