Karim Dembélé

Dembélé was born in Koutiala, French Sudan in 1939.^[1] He studied in military school in Kati between 1962 and 1964, where he became a parachute officer. Dembele was only appointed a member of the Malian junta, CMNL, after the 1968 Malian coup d'état.^[2] Dembele served as chief of staff in the government of Yoro Diakité from 1969 until his arrest.^[1] Dembele was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1976.^[2]

In February 1978, Dembele was imprisoned alongside Tiécoro Bagayoko and Kissima Doukara, the three of them accused of plotting a coup against Moussa Traoré. He was sentenced in October 1978 to twenty years of forced labor in Taoudenni, shortened to ten years in 1979.^[3] At the time of his arrest, Dembele was the minister of transport.^[4] He spent the full ten years imprisoned, being released in 1988 and regaining his rights after the fall of the Traore regime.^[1] After his release, he wrote a memoir called Transferts Defenitifs.^[5]

Dembele died in the United States on September 15, 2010.^[1]