Madagascar: a civil society actor imprisoned in the Ihorombe region

Text by: Laetitia Bezain Follow

In Madagascar, Thomas Razafindremaka, a civil society actor and defender of small farmers in the Ihorombe region in the south of the island was placed in pre-trial detention Monday, February 17. He is being prosecuted for extortion, fraud and usurpation and abuse of office. But for the National Platform of Civil Society Organizations in Madagascar it is an act of reprisals by local powers towards an inconvenient man.

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From our correspondent in Antananarivo,

Well known in the Ihorombe region and knowledgeable human rights defender, Thomas Razafindremaka is said to have strained relations with local authorities. For civil society, this is why he was arrested.

“ Thomas is someone who takes care of small farmers who dare not go to the offices to defend their rights. They are peasants who are victims of harassment and atrocities on the part of certain local authorities and police forces with regard to land problems, with regard to problems of theft of oxen, etc. So it is very disturbing because that he knows all the traffic and all the corruption that certain authorities and certain officials of the police force make ", explains Mahamadou Ndriandahy, the president of the National platform of the organizations of the civil society in Madagascar.

Civil society denounces a coup

For civil society, his arrest has in particular a link with the prosecutor at the Ihosy courthouse. She would be furious with him because he exposed a malfeasance in the court. An information that triggered an investigation by the Ministry of Justice.

" For us it is a set up because in the accusation they say that the scams that Thomas would have made date from 2018 and therefore why since 2018 the justice has not reacted, questions Mahamadou Ndriandahy. We just want him to be judged properly. We what we do know is that the money he takes from the farmers is not for personal enrichment but so that he can make trips when he has to make small inquiries and take care of the files here and there. "

Civil society also specifies that the woman who lodged a complaint against the human rights defender is said to be close to the prosecutor, Tinah Rabendrainy. When contacted, the latter denied this theory. " This is completely false because three different civil action complaints have been filed against him, " she said. " It is the duty of the prosecution to initiate the procedure and the investigation ". Civil society has sent a lawyer to Ihosy to help Thomas Razafindremaka.

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