N’DJAMENA, Chad
Eleven men accused of planning
a “coup d’etat” in Chad have been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the attorney
general in N’Djamena told AFP Sunday, but the presidency said they would be
pardoned.Baradine Berdei Targuio
In early January, the
government announced that 10 army officers and prominent rights campaigner
Baradine Berdei Targuio had been arrested, accused of “attempting to
destabilize... the constitutional order” and the country’s institutions.
Berdei Targuio, presented by
the authorities as the ringleader of the December bid, is president of the
Chadian Organization for the Defense of Human Rights (OTDH) and a fierce critic
of the ruling regime.
The 11, who have been detained
in a high-security prison of Koro Toro, 600 kilometers north of the capital,
and were sentenced to 20 years in jail for violating constitutional order,
illegally holding weapons and associating with criminals, according to the
national broadcaster.
On April 21, Chadian leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno vowed to free the men.
“The president will keep his
promise,” presidency spokesman Brah Mahamat told AFP, adding that the sentence
must be announced before a presidential pardon could be given.
Deby took power after his
father, president Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled for 30 years, died during an
operation against rebels in April 2021.
The young junta leader and
transitional president had promised to hold free elections within 18 months of
taking power, but that deadline has been extended for another two years.
Protests last October to mark
the initially promised end to military rule were met with a deadly crackdown.
In March, the younger Deby
pardoned and then freed 259 young people who had been handed jail terms for
taking part in the protests.
According to the government,
73 people were killed during the unrest, but the opposition, as well as local
and international NGOs delving into accounts of forced disappearances,
arbitrary arrests and executions, say the toll is much higher.
No comments:
Post a Comment