Chad Prosecutor Seeks 2 Years’ Jail For Opposition Leaders

• Chad’s public prosecutor seeking two-year prison for six opposition leaders.
• They have been charged with disturbing public order and destruction of property.
• The junta dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution

Chad’s public prosecutor On Monday announced that he was seeking two-year prison terms for six opposition leaders arrested following violent anti-French protests last month.

“We are calling for two-year jail terms with fines of 100,000 CFA francs” (around $160, 150 euros) against each of the defendants, prosecutor Moussa Wade Djibrine told AFP as their trial got underway.

The case comes amid political unrest in Chad, where a military junta has been in power since the death of the country’s veteran leader 14 months ago.

An authorized march in the capital N’Djamena on May 14 against France’s military presence in Chad turned violent.

Seven petrol stations belonging to the French oil major Total were attacked and 12 police were injured, according to a police toll.

In the aftermath, the authorities carried out a string of arrests among the march organizers, who denied any responsibility for the violence.

Those charged include Max Loalngar, coordinator for Wakit Tamma, which is the country’s main opposition coalition, and Gounoung Vaima Gan-Fare, secretary of the Chadian trade union federation.

The six have been charged with disturbing public order and destruction of property. They began a hunger protest on May 23.

The verdict is expected to be announced on Monday at a court at Moussoro, around 300 kilometers (180 miles) from N’Djamena.

Trade unions, opposition political parties, armed groups and international NGOs have called for the six to be released immediately and unconditionally.

“We will see if the court is independent and follows the (prosecutor) or not,” said Djerandi Laguerre, a lawyer for Wakit Tamma.

Defense attorneys boycotted proceedings, which took place amid a heavy police presence.

Chad has been under military rule since President Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled with an iron fist for three decades, was killed in April 2021 during operations to crush rebels in the north of the country.

Read more: Chad junta chief orders ‘disarmament operation’ after clashes

He was succeeded by his son Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, a four-star general.

He took the helm at the head of a 15-member group of senior officers and was appointed transitional president.

The junta immediately dissolved parliament, sacked the government and suspended the constitution.

It vowed to hold “free and democratic elections” within 18 months after staging a proposed nationwide “dialogue” on the country’s problems.

The planned reconciliation forum should have started last month but has run into hefty problems.

Armed groups failed to reach a joint position with the junta at so-called “pre-dialogue” talks in Qatar, and the political opposition has withdrawn from the organising process.

Chad has a long history of coups and revolts since the vast arid country gained independence from France in 1960.

The military’s takeover last year was widely accepted by Western countries, led by France, which sees Chad as a close ally in its fight against jihadists in the Sahel.

Other recent coups in Africa — in Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso — have encountered condemnation or regional sanctions.

France has thousands of troops in the Sahel, including in Chad, under its Barkhane mission.

However, after falling out with the Bamako junta, which has close ties with the Kremlin, France announced in February that it would withdraw its troops from Mali and deploy them elsewhere.

In response to the violence that had occurred two days earlier, Deby attacked what he called “false and unfounded allegations” that French troops would be redeployed in Chad on May 16.

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