A court in a high-security prison in the middle of the desert in Chad has imposed 2 to 3 years in prison on 262 people arrested during a demonstration against the regime, repressed in a bloodbath in October, at the end of a mass trial behind closed doors without lawyers and without independent media.
Some 80 others, out of 401 people tried – mainly young demonstrators – received one to two years’ suspended imprisonment, and 59 were released, the public prosecutor of N’ Djamena, Moussa Wade Djibrine.
The trial lasted four days and ended on Friday, but only state television had the right to attend, in the absence of any other media, the prosecutor only made the judgment public three days later. later, on his return to the capital on Monday.
On October 20, 2022, around fifty people – young demonstrators killed by bullets for the vast majority – had died, mainly in N’Djamena when the police opened fire on the slightest attempt to gather.
They were responding to the opposition’s call against the two-year extension in power of General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno. He was proclaimed head of state by the military on April 20, 2021 following the announcement of the death of his father, President Idriss Déby Itno, killed at the front by rebels after leading Chad with an iron fist. for 30 years.
– Mass trial –
The authorities had acknowledged the arrest of 601 people in the city of N’Djamena alone – including 83 minors – and their transfer to the high security prison of Koro Toro. Transitional President Mahamat Déby accused them of wanting to lead an “insurrection” and an attempted “coup”.
Those sentenced on Friday were found guilty of, among other things, “unauthorized assembly, destruction of property, arson, violence and assault and disturbing public order”, according to the prosecutor.
This mass trial took place in the prison of Koro Toro 600 km northeast of the capital, an “illegal” expatriation procedure according to the lawyers who decided not to go there.
Amnesty International denounced on Friday “a closed trial which raises serious concerns about respect for the right to a fair trial (…) the right to prepare one’s defense (…) the right to a public trial (.. .) and the public’s right to information, “rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Chad is a party”.
– “excessive use of violence” –
The bar association went on strike across the country before the opening and for the duration of the trial, denouncing the “arbitrariness and injustice” of a “travesty trial”. He announced on Monday a resumption of pleadings from Tuesday and their intention to appeal.
Of the approximately 600 people arrested during and after the protest in N’Djamena, the cases of more than 200 are still under investigation by investigating judges, including 80 minors repatriated from Koro Toro to N’Djamena , assured the prosecutor on Monday.
After the bloody demonstrations, the opposition – whose main leaders are now in hiding or in exile -, local and international NGOs, as well as part of the international community, European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) in the lead, strongly condemned the excessive use of violence “against civilians”.
On Monday, the government announced the lifting of the state of emergency decreed in N’Djamena and a few other towns on the evening of October 20.
On April 20, 2021, Mahamat Déby, a young 37-year-old general, was proclaimed President of the Republic at the head of a junta of 15 generals, and promised to return power to civilians through elections after a “transition” from 18 months.
But, at this term, he extended his presidency on the recommendation of a “National Reconciliation Dialogue” boycotted by the vast majority of the political opposition and several of the most important armed rebel groups.