Chad - May 2025

On 16 May, Chadian authorities arrested the leader of the opposition Transformers (Les Transformateurs) party and former Prime Minister, Succès Masra, as part of an investigation into recent intercommunal violence between farming and herding communities in the southwest of the country. Prosecutors alleged that the violence was triggered by an audio recording of Masra urging farmers in the affected village to arm themselves and he was charged with incitement to hatred and revolt, complicity in murder and the desecration of graves. On 21 May, he was placed in pre-trial detention. Masra denies the charges against him, saying the recording is two years old and that in it he had simply called on the farmers to form self-defence groups. The opposition leader is a fierce critic of President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno and his lawyers and party allege the prosecution is politically motivated. His arrest followed a resumption of his opposition activities in the country’s capital, N'Djamena.

Sources: Reuters, International Crisis Group, Jeune Afrique (1),  Jeune Afrique (2)