Chad's Déby Pardons Rival Succès Masra From 20-Year Term as 8 Other Opposition Figures Win Release
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 14
Chad's Déby Pardons Rival Succès Masra From 20-Year Term as 8 Other Opposition Figures Win Release
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 14
Summary
Mahamat Déby pardoned former prime minister Succès Masra, his main political rival, clearing the way for Masra's release from a 20-year prison sentence.
The decree came four days after Déby promised to free convicted figures to promote national unity, peace and reconciliation, and it also covered eight GCAP opposition members jailed for eight years over a banned protest.
The presidency stressed the pardon is not an amnesty, meaning all nine recipients could still face prosecution despite the release order; a separate decree also granted partial sentence reductions to other detainees nationwide.
Masra was arrested in May over alleged links to southwest violence that killed at least 42 people, with authorities accusing him of spreading hateful social media messages tied to the clash.
Masra's Transformers party called the move the start of a "new page," while another opposition party said it should lead to broader political openness in a country ruled by the Déby family for more than three decades.