Rabat – A court in Chad has sentenced the nation’s main opposition leader and former Prime Minister Success Masra to 20 years in prison.
This was after he was found guilty of hate speech, xenophobia and inciting a massacre. He was given the sentence by a court in the nation’s capital N’Djamena.
Masra was on trial alongside 67 co-defendants who were accused of starting intercommunal violence in the nation’s southern regions.
In May large-scale clashes had occurred in the Logone Occidental southwest region leading to over forty deaths and injuring several others.
However, the former Prime Minister and his lawyers deny the charges and have stated their intention to lead an appeal. On Saturday in a message to his supporters he called for them to, “stand firm.”
His defense lawyers stated that the Prime Minister had been, “subjected to ignominy and an unworthy humiliation.”
Masara is currently the leader of the nation’s largest opposition party, Transformers, and one of the sharpest critics against Mahamat Deby’s regime.
He comes from the Ngambaye ethnic group and enjoys wide popularity among the predominantly Christian and animist population, which feels isolated from the Muslim-dominated N’Djamena government.
He had been Prime Minister from January to May 2024 but ran against Deby during the 2024 election. However, Deby gained 61% of the vote, having originally taken power through a military coup after the death of his father.
Critics did not accept the results and have claimed that the vote was subject to widespread vote rigging and control.
Despite a reconciliation deal being reached between Deby and Masra, the court decision demonstrates a serious democratic-backsliding and the rise of authoritarianism within the Central African country.
