Mali Police March on Prison, Free Commander Held in Protest Deaths Inquiry

BAMAKO, MALI - A special forces commander in Mali was freed on Friday after angry police officers marched to the prison where he was detained for allegedly using brute force to quash deadly protests last year. 

The head of the police counterterrorism unit, Oumar Samake, had been held in the Sahel state over lethal skirmishes between security forces and opponents of ex-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.   Anti-Keita protests rocked Mali last year and eventually culminated in the president's ouster in a military coup.   One such protest on July 10, 2020, sparked several days of deadly clashes with security forces.