Chad’s former Prime Minister and opposition leader, Succes Masra, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for spreading racist and xenophobic messages that incited violence.
Masra, the head of Chad’s primary opposition party, Les Transformateurs (Transformers), was found guilty of hate speech, promoting xenophobia, and inciting a massacre by a special criminal court in N’djamena.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of $1.8 million.
Masra’s legal team argued that the prosecution failed to provide substantial evidence linking him to the charges, which he refuted during the court proceedings.
The investigation against him was initiated after a violent clash in the southern town of Mandakao resulted in numerous fatalities in May. Masra was taken into custody on May 16 following inter-communal violence in Logone Occidental province that claimed 42 lives.
He staged a hunger strike in July to protest his imprisonment, halting it after nearly a week due to a demonstration by women advocating for his release.
Masra’s attorney has indicated that they intend to appeal the verdict.
As a vocal critic of President Mahamat Idriss Deby, Masra briefly held the position of prime minister in Deby’s interim government before challenging him in the May 2024 election.
He was tried alongside 74 other defendants accused of involvement in the massacre.
