N’Djamena, December 5 (Prensa Latina) A Chadian criminal court handed down sentences of between two and three years in prison to 262 people arrested during demonstrations against the ruling military junta last October, prosecutors reported today.
According to a statement released on Monday, 80 of the more than 400 accused have been sentenced to a year in prison.
Meanwhile, more than 50 defendants have been acquitted by the Supreme Court during hearings at a penal center more than 500 kilometers from the capital.
The source also said many of those involved in the bloody protests are still under investigation, in which 50 mobilized people were killed by security forces and another 300 injured, according to digital portal Africa News.
The public prosecutor’s office accused the convicted of, among other things, unauthorized participation in meetings, arson and acts of violence and aggression.
The demonstrations in various cities of Chad against the military regime took place on October 20, when the 18 months promised by the provisional government of General Mahamat Idriss Déby to organize elections and make way for a civilian executive had been fulfilled.
Mahamad temporarily replaced his father, the President of that country, Idriss Déby Itno, who died after being gunshot wounds during an armed confrontation with an insurgent group.
On November 11, the interim executive announced the reshuffle of the head of the security apparatus, a reshuffle apparently prompted by the October citizen protests mentioned above.
To calm the heated mood in Chadian society over the repression of protesters, Mahamat recently appointed opposition politician Saleh Kebzabo as the new prime minister.
mgt/obf