Gen. Amadou Haya Sanogo, leader of the March 2012 coup that plunged Mali into civil war, was arrested Nov. 27 on charges of murder, complicity to murder, assassination and kidnapping. According to one of the arresting soldiers, Sanogo had repeatedly ignored summons by Mali's Ministry of Justice. Twenty-five armed soldiers arrested Sanogo in his home in Bamako and took him to appear before a judge, after which he remained in custody.

Frustrated by an apparent lack of progress in handling Taureg rebellion in northern Mali, Sanogo led soldiers in a military coup in March 2012, ousting then-President Amadou Toumani Toure. In the weeks following the coup, Taureg rebels launched a rapid advance, capturing multiple cities within Mali. [The Tuareg rebels were themselves usurped by jihadists in the following weeks.] The intervention of over 4,000 French troops in January finally dispatched the rebels. Although Sanogo assured the international community in April that he would return the country to constitutional rule, multiple advocacy organizations reported that forces loyal to Sanogo were abducting and torturing opposition soldiers and journalists.

From Jurist, Nov. 27. Used with permission.