Madagascar’s former Senate president Richard Ravalomanana has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labour for his alleged role in the violent suppression of youth protests that helped topple the government last year.
A court in Antananarivo found the retired general guilty of complicity in murder on Tuesday. Prosecutors said Ravalomanana gave instructions to security forces to use force against demonstrators during the “Gen Z” protests in September and October 2025.
Ravalomanana, a close ally of former President Andry Rajoelina, denied the charges and said he will appeal. He was also cleared of a separate death threat allegation because the case was deemed too old to prosecute.
The protests started over chronic power and water cuts, then grew into wider calls for Rajoelina to step down. According to UN figures reported by local media, at least 22 people were killed and more than 100 were injured. The unrest ended with Rajoelina’s removal and the rise of a new administration led by Col Michael Randrianirina.
The crackdown was carried out by the gendarmerie, an institution where Ravalomanana still held influence. A state prosecutor told the court in December 2025 that he “directed violent actions to suppress the demonstrations.”
Ravalomanana was stripped of his Senate role in October 2025, arrested at his home in December after missing a gendarmerie summons, and has spent the last seven months in pre-trial detention at Imerintsiatosika high-security prison outside the capital.
His defense argued there was no direct proof. A former national police chief who testified said Ravalomanana was not in the operational chain of command and issued no orders to police, gendarmes or soldiers. His lawyer asked the court: “Is there confirmed written or verbal evidence… to accuse him?”
Ravalomanana, often seen in public wearing a cowboy hat and medals, had become a symbol of the old administration for protesters. He also faces a separate corruption investigation.
Several other senior figures linked to Rajoelina’s government are facing legal action since the change of power.
