• On July 20, several people, including two French people, were arrested by the Malagasy authorities on suspicion of having wanted to participate in a coup d'état.

  • The reasons for this assassination attempt are still unknown, but France's involvement in this affair raises questions, which the Madagascan president did not fail to raise on Sunday.

  • Depending on the results of the investigation, relations between the two countries may well be strained.

Is France involved in an attempted coup in Madagascar?

Andry Rajoelina, the president of this sub-Saharan African country wondered this Sunday, after the arrest of two French people in July, suspected with twenty other people of having wanted to assassinate him.

"20 Minutes" takes stock of a case with still blurred outlines.

What happened ?

On July 20, several foreigners and Malagasy were arrested "as part of an investigation for endangering state security," said the justice system and the government of Madagascar.

"According to the material evidence in our possession, these individuals have devised a plan to eliminate and neutralize various Malagasy personalities, including the head of state," Attorney General Berthine Razafiarivony declared to the press.

The Minister of Public Security Fanomezantsoa Rodellys Randrianarison, assured that "official documents which prove their involvement" had been seized.

Among the six people arrested that day are two French.

After their hearing by a judge on Wednesday August 4, they were remanded in custody with five other suspects.

Who are these two French arrested?

"Among the brains of the assassination is a French colonel who commanded regiments in Chad, Kosovo and Afghanistan," Andry Rajoelina said Sunday during an intervention on public television channels. This colonel is Philippe F., retired from the French army and who would have settled in the Island in early 2020, according to several sources. Until last June, he was at the head of an investment and advisory company for international investors in Madagascar.

His lawyer Me Etienne de Villepin affirmed that his client was "above all suspicion".

"My client has never had any political inclinations in Madagascar," he insisted, specifying that Philippe F. was planning to return to France for good.

“A long-planned move, as various documents attest, long before his arrest in the international area of ​​the airport” of Antananarivo, he adds.

The council also specified that a container belonging to Philippe F., as well as a GoPro camera and a mobile phone had been seized "without revealing so far any element".

The investment fund headed by Philippe F. was launched in December 2020 by Paul R., reports

Le Monde

. It turns out that Paul R. is the second Frenchman arrested by the Malagasy authorities. Like Philippe F., he went through the Saint-Cyr school. Born in 1963, he was a captain when he left the gendarmerie in 1994, according to a source from the French gendarmerie. Paul R. also knows President Rajoelina, since he was his diplomatic advisor until 2011. On his Linkedin profile, he now presents himself as the Archbishop of Antananarivo. However, the cleric distanced himself from this assertion, explaining that he was not “responsible for people using his name without an express mandate”. Andry Rejoalina also questioned this status. "All I can say is that I received a letter from the Vatican as a sign of solidarity after this assassination project", assured the Madagascan president.

Why would President Andry Rajoelina have been targeted?

Among those indicted in this foiled assassination plan are many senior army officials.

"If they want to kill me, it is because of my commitment to protect our nation," said the head of state of Madagascar on Sunday, adding that "the difference of views does not justify a murder".

Elected in 2018, the one we nicknamed “TGV” for his go-getter side, won the senatorial elections in December.

It has since taken over all of the country's political levers.

In opposition, Rivo Rakotovao, former interim president of the country, however condemned "any assassination attempt, whether against the leaders or against anyone".

"We should not take advantage of this situation to undermine democracy in Madagascar", he also warned, while Andry Rajoelina is the subject of strong criticism concerning in particular the freedom of the press.

Reporters Without Borders says that in recent months, journalists have been subjected to pressure, intimidation and threats, especially when they were interested in subjects dealing with the pandemic and the current famine in the south of the island.

What consequences could this event have on relations between France and Madagascar?

“The Malagasy people are worried. Knowing that its president is threatened by a number of foreign forces in particular. It is a real concern ”, declared on July 22 on RFI Patrick Rajoelina, the special adviser of the Madagascan president. But for the moment, more than ten days after the arrest of the two Frenchmen, the question still remains unanswered. “We have to wait for the results of the investigation which will reveal whether it is an isolated act or not. It is the investigation that will answer all this, ”said President Andry Rajoelina.

"Who profits from the crime?" Is this small group of people isolated or is it a real plot? “, Also wonders Patrick Rajoelina. If the act is isolated, the consequences will be minimal a priori. On the other hand, if the conclusions of the investigation are different, relations with France could be strained. However for Me Etienne de Villepin, lawyer of Philippe F., his client would serve as "to argue for the Malagasy government, for which it is interesting to involve a French in the context of a catastrophic economic and health situation, deviant thus people's attention ”.

For now, if President Andry Rajoelina wondered about France's involvement in this affair, he also assured that he had “no personal problem” in his “relations with France”.

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  • Diplomacy

  • Madagascar

  • Assassination

  • World