N’DJAMENA (Reuters) -Chad’s prosecutor said on Friday an investigation has been launched into Succes Masra, the former prime minister and current opposition leader, for alleged involvement in a clash in which dozens were killed this week.
Masra was arrested at home on Friday morning by the judicial police, prosecutor Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye said, adding that he was being investigated on charges including incitement to hatred and revolt, complicity in murder and the desecration of graves.
A member of Masra’s Transformateurs party, Sitack Yombatina, dismissed the charges, telling Reuters that Masra, who led the country for five months in early 2024, could not be held responsible for the government’s incompetence in curbing inter-community conflicts.
A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another member of Transformateurs, Ndolembai Sade Njesada, said earlier that Masra had been abducted by security forces. His Facebook post showed footage of what appeared to be uniformed armed men escorting Masra out of a residential building.
The prosecutor said investigations by the judicial police pointed to Masra’s involvement in a clash that killed 42 people on Wednesday in the southwest province of Logone Occidental, mostly women and children.
“This alleged involvement incited the population against a community residing in the same locality. Messages were circulated, notably on social networks, calling on the population to arm themselves against other citizens,” the prosecutor said.
Masra had emerged as a staunch opponent of the junta headed by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who seized power after his father, long-serving President Idriss Deby, was killed as he was visiting troops fighting militias in the north of the country in 2021.
Legal proceedings against Masra would exacerbate concerns of shrinking democratic space in Chad, where the government frequently bans demonstrations and is accused of restricting media organisations’ ability to operate.
Masra was appointed prime minister in January 2024 in a bid to appease the opposition, four months before an election that Mahamat Idriss Deby won, with the state election body giving him 61% of the vote.
Before the official announcement of the election’s preliminary results, Masra had claimed victory and alleged that electoral fraud was being planned.
He tendered his resignation as prime minister before Mahamat Idriss Deby was sworn in.
Chad was the first of the junta-led states in West and Central Africa to hold elections following a string of coups in recent years.
(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane, Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Anait Miridzhanian, Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
