First change: 12/05/2022 – 6:44 p.m. Last change: 12/5/2022 – 6:43 p.m
N’Djamena (AFP) – A Chadian court sentenced 262 people arrested during violent crackdowns on anti-government protests to two to three years in prison.
Another 80 of the 401 accused were sentenced to one to two years in prison and 59 were acquitted, N’Djamena Republic prosecutor Moussa Wade Djibrine said on Monday.
The four-day trial took place in the high-security Koro Toro prison, in the middle of the desert, more than 600 km northeast of the Chadian capital N’Djamena.
Although the trial ended on Friday, prosecutors did not announce the verdict until Monday.
On October 20, around fifty people – mostly young protesters – were killed in N’Djamena when security forces opened fire on protesters.
On that day, thousands of people across the country demonstrated at the call of the opposition against the two-year extension of the political transition period and against General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno staying in power.
General Deby, 38, took power in April 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, was killed in an anti-rebel operation after ruling the country with an iron fist for three decades.
The people convicted on Friday were found guilty of “unauthorized demonstration, destruction of property, voluntary arson, violence, assault and disturbance of public order,” according to prosecutors.
The NGO Amnesty International on Friday condemned “a closed trial that raises serious concerns about respect for the right to a fair trial (…), the right to have your defense prepared (…), the right to a public trial (. ..) and the right to information”.
© 2022 AFP