11 men jailed over Chad ‘coup bid’ promised pardons

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.