Chad Court Jails Ex-PM For 20 Years

Chad’s former prime minister and prominent opposition figure, Succès Masra, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of hate speech, xenophobia, and instigating a massacre. The ruling by the court in N’Djamena stemmed from an intercommunal conflict in which 42 people—mostly women and children—were killed in Mandakao, southwestern Chad, on May 14. The state prosecutor had sought a 25-year sentence prior to the verdict.

Masra’s lead defence lawyer described the sentence as humiliating and based on an unsubstantiated case. Masra had been arrested on May 16 and charged with inciting hatred, revolt, and complicity in murder, as well as arson, grave desecration, and forming armed groups. He was among approximately 70 defendants; his party, Transformers, said no concrete evidence had been presented.

Masra, who once led the opposition before reconciling with the ruling government to serve as prime minister from January to May 2024, had previously gone into exile after a violent crackdown in 2022 and returned under an amnesty in 2024. He ran in the 2024 election, receiving about 18.5% of the vote against Mahamat Déby’s 61.3%, but denounced the results.

During his court exit, Masra urged his supporters to “stand firm.” The violence that led to his conviction is part of a broader pattern of deadly clashes between nomadic herders and local farmers over land and grazing boundaries.