A former prime minister of Mali, which is now under military rule, has been charged with undermining the credibility of the state over comments on social media.

After a prison visit to see detained opposition figures in July, Moussa Mara declared on X his "unwavering solidarity with prisoners of conscience".

Mara, who served as prime minister for nine months a decade ago, has been a recent outspoken critic of the military government.

The junta, in power since coups in 2020 and 2021, dissolved all political parties in May following rare anti-government protests.

On Thursday, Mara was detained and questioned for a second time by the national cybercrime unit about his 4 July X post.

In the post, the ex-prime minister said his regular visits to see those detained were to make sure that "the flame of hope never fades in them".

"As long as the night lasts, the sun will inevitably rise! And we will fight by all means to make that happen, and as soon as possible!" he added.

The prosecutor at the cybercrime unit said that talking about "prisoners of conscience" and saying he wanted to fight for them constituted an offence, Radio France Internationale reports.

On Friday, along with the accusation of undermining the credibility of the state, he was also charged with opposing legitimate authority and inciting public disorder.

He is due to stand trial on 29 September.

A month ago, military leader Gen Assimi Goïta was granted a five-year presidential term by the transitional parliament, which is renewable without elections.

The 41-year-old, who seized power twice, was named transitional president after the 2021 coup.

At the time he promised to hold elections the following year - but has since reneged, in a blow to efforts to restore multi-party rule in the West African state.