This archive report was first published on 4 September 2021.
On Friday, hundreds of protesting police officers from the Special Anti-Terrorist Force (Forsat) marched towards the Bamako Central Prison, where Commander Oumar Samaké was being held, and freed him.
The arrest of Commander Samaké was part of efforts by the transition government to bring to justice perpetrators of human rights violations in relation to the 2020 protests.
For three days in July 2020, protesters occupied the streets of Bamako, resulting in 14 deaths, according to official accounts, but the death toll was put at 23 by the political opposition.
Investigations into the killings were opened in December 2020, and judicial officials say that the investigations against Mr Samaké will continue.
Police leaders defended the action of their men, arguing that Mr Samaké's detention didn't follow the right procedure.
Mr Samaké is wanted by the authorities for his role in the brutal suppression of the protests that led to the toppling of the then regime of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020.
Mali is under a political transition led by a military president who is under pressure to organise elections and transfer power to a civilian administration by February next year.
