Karim Dembélé was a Malian soldier and politician who participated in the

1968 Malian coup d'état The 1968 Malian coup d'état was a bloodless Malian Armed Forces, military coup d'état, coup in Mali staged on 19 November 1968 against the government of President Modibo Keïta. The coup was led by Lieutenant (later Major General) Moussa Traoré ...

Biography

Dembélé was born in

Koutiala Koutiala ( Bambara: ߞߎߕߌߊߟߊ tr. Kutiala) is a city in Mali in the administrative region of Sikasso, and is located 140 km north of the city of Sikasso. Koutiala serves as the capital of its administrative Cercle, home to 575,253 peop ...

French Sudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...

in 1939. He studied in military school in

Kati KATI (94.3 FM), branded as 94.3 KAT Country, is a radio station which broadcasts country music and St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Licensed to California, Missouri, the station serves the Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, ...

between 1962 and 1964, where he became a parachute officer. Dembele was only appointed a member of the Malian junta, CMNL, after the

. Dembele served as chief of staff in the government of Yoro Diakité from 1969 until his arrest. Dembele was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1976. In February 1978, Dembele was imprisoned alongside

Tiécoro Bagayoko Tiécoro Bagayoko was a Malian soldier and attempted Coup d'état, putschist. He rose to power as a key figure in the 1968 Malian coup d'état, becoming the director of the National Security Services of Mali. As director, Bagayoko's regime was kn ...

and Kissima Doukara, the three of them accused of plotting a coup against

Moussa Traoré Moussa Traoré (25 September 1936 – 15 September 2020) was a Malian military officer, politician, and dictator who served as the second President of Mali from 1968 to 1991. As a lieutenant, he led the military ousting of President Modibo Ke� ...

. He was sentenced in October 1978 to twenty years of forced labor in

Taoudenni Taoudenni (also Taoudeni, Taoudénit, Taudeni, , ) is a remote salt mining center in the desert region of northern Mali, north of Timbuktu. It is the capital of Taoudénit Region. The salt is dug by hand from the bed of an ancient salt lake, c ...

, shortened to ten years in 1979. At the time of his arrest, Dembele was the minister of transport. He spent the full ten years imprisoned, being released in 1988 and regaining his rights after the fall of the Traore regime. After his release, he wrote a memoir called Transferts Defenitifs. Dembele died in the United States on September 15, 2010.

References

{{Reflist 1939 births 2010 deaths Malian military personnel People from Sikasso Region