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Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chad court jails ex-PM, opposition leader for 20 years
A court in Chad jailed former prime minister and opposition leader Succes Masra for 20 years Saturday, convicting him of hate speech, xenophobia and having incited a massacre. The court in N'Djamena jailed Masra, one of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno's fiercest critics, for his role in inciting inter-communal violence in which 42 people were killed on May 14. Most of the massacre victims were women and children in Mandakao, southwestern Chad, according to the court. On Friday, the state prosecutor had called for a 25-year sentence. "Our client has just been the object of a humiliation," lead defence lawyer Francis Kadjilembaye told AFP. "He has just been convicted on the basis of an empty dossier, on the basis of assumptions and in the absence of evidence," he added. What we had witnessed, he said, was the weaponisation of the courts. Activists with his Transformers Party said they would put out a "special message" later Saturday. Masra was arrested on May 16, two days after the violence, and charged with "inciting hatred, revolt, forming and complicity with armed gangs, complicity in murder, arson and desecration of graves". He stood trial with nearly 70 other men accused of taking part in the killings. - Presidential candidate - Originally from Chad's south, Masra comes from the Ngambaye ethnic group and enjoys wide popularity among the predominantly Christian and animist populations of the south. Those groups feel marginalised by the largely Muslim-dominated regime in the capital N'Djamena. During the trial, Masra's lawyers argued that no concrete evidence against him had been presented to the court. He went on hunger strike in jail for nearly a month in June, his lawyers said at the time. Like other opposition leaders, Masra had left Chad after a bloody crackdown on his followers in 2022, only returning under an amnesty agreed in 2024. Trained as an economist in France and Cameroon, Masra had been a fierce opponent of the ruling authorities before they named him prime minister five months ahead of the presidential election. He served as premier from January to May last year after signing a reconciliation deal with Deby. Masra faced off against Deby in the 2024 presidential elections, winning 18.5 percent against Deby's 61.3 percent, but claimed victory. Of the May 14 killings, one local source said they were thought to have sprung from a dispute between ethnic Fulani nomadic herders and local Ngambaye farmers over the demarcation of grazing and farming areas. Conflicts between pastoralists and sedentary farmers are estimated by the International Crisis Group to have caused more than 1,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries in Chad between 2021 and 2024. yas-lnf/jj/gv Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Chad's opposition leader sentenced to 20 years in prison for inciting violence
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Chad's criminal court on Saturday sentenced Success Masra, the country's former prime minister and opposition leader, to 20 years in prison after convictions on charges including incitement to hatred and revolt and complicity to murder. The charges stemmed from a deadly clash between herders and farmers in May. Masra was also fined 1 billion CFA francs, or almost $1.8 million. Before leaving the courtroom, Masra gave a message to his supporters: 'Stand firm.' Following the verdict Kadjilembay Francis, Masra's lawyer, told reporters: 'He has just been subjected to ignominy and unworthy humiliation.' He said he will appeal the sentence. Masra and 67 co-defendants, mostly people from the same Ngambaye ethnic group, have been on trial accused of causing a clash between herders and farmers in May in Logone Occidental in the southwest of the central African country. The fighting left 35 people dead and six others injured. He has denied the charges against him. Masra, who was prime minister between January and May last year, is the head of the Les Transformateurs party and has been a sharp critic of Mahamat Déby, Chad's current president. Déby took power in 2021 after his father Idriss Déby Itno was killed while fighting rebels in the country's north. He had ruled the country for 30 years. Déby legitimized his presidency with an election earlier this year, which was opposed by Masra and his party.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Chad court jails ex-PM, opposition leader for 20 years
A court in Chad jailed former prime minister and opposition leader Succes Masra for 20 years Saturday, convicting him of hate speech, xenophobia and having incited a massacre. The court in N'Djamena jailed Masra, one of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno's fiercest critics, for his role in inciting inter-communal violence in which 42 people were killed on May 14. Most of the massacre victims were women and children in Mandakao, southwestern Chad, according to the court. On Friday, the state prosecutor had called for a 25-year sentence. "Our client has just been the object of a humiliation," lead defence lawyer Francis Kadjilembaye told AFP. "He has just been convicted on the basis of an empty dossier, on the basis of assumptions and in the absence of evidence," he added. What we had witnessed, he said, was the weaponisation of the courts. Activists with his Transformers Party said they would put out a "special message" later Saturday. Masra was arrested on May 16, two days after the violence, and charged with "inciting hatred, revolt, forming and complicity with armed gangs, complicity in murder, arson and desecration of graves". He stood trial with nearly 70 other men accused of taking part in the killings. - Presidential candidate - Originally from Chad's south, Masra comes from the Ngambaye ethnic group and enjoys wide popularity among the predominantly Christian and animist populations of the south. Those groups feel marginalised by the largely Muslim-dominated regime in the capital N'Djamena. During the trial, Masra's lawyers argued that no concrete evidence against him had been presented to the court. He went on hunger strike in jail for nearly a month in June, his lawyers said at the time. Like other opposition leaders, Masra had left Chad after a bloody crackdown on his followers in 2022, only returning under an amnesty agreed in 2024. Trained as an economist in France and Cameroon, Masra had been a fierce opponent of the ruling authorities before they named him prime minister five months ahead of the presidential election. He served as premier from January to May last year after signing a reconciliation deal with Deby. Masra faced off against Deby in the 2024 presidential elections, winning 18.5 percent against Deby's 61.3 percent, but claimed victory. Of the May 14 killings, one local source said they were thought to have sprung from a dispute between ethnic Fulani nomadic herders and local Ngambaye farmers over the demarcation of grazing and farming areas. Conflicts between pastoralists and sedentary farmers are estimated by the International Crisis Group to have caused more than 1,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries in Chad between 2021 and 2024. yas-lnf/jj/gv
