Chad: 2 to 3 years in prison for 262 people after the demonstrations of October 20

Chadian prosecutor Moussa Wade Djibrine during a news conference in N'Djamena December 5, 2022. A Chadian court handed down prison sentences of two to three years to 262 people arrested after deadly protests in October, the prosecutor said.

AFP - DENIS SASSOU GUEIPEUR

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At Koro Toro prison in Chad, the court imposed two to three years in prison on 262 people arrested after the harshly suppressed protests against the government on October 20, following a mass trial behind closed doors, without lawyers and without independent media.

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With our correspondent in Ndjamena

, 

The trial of the 401 people arrested during the October 20 demonstration

, 600 kilometers from the capital.

Only state television having had the right to attend, the public prosecutor only made the judgment public three days later, on his return to Ndjamena on Monday December 5.

According to prosecutor Moussa Wade Djibrine, 262 defendants are sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to three years.

80 others are given suspended sentences ranging from one to two years.

59 defendants were declared not guilty and released with the benefit of the doubt.

A hearing in the absence of lawyers

The

organized in the form of a mobile hearing took place in the absence of lawyers who denounced a violation of judicial procedures.

For the bar, judging defendants outside the place where they committed an act and in the absence of their lawyers is a denial of justice.

In addition to the 401 defendants tried last week, 80 minors were identified among the prisoners of Koro Toro and brought back to the capital.

Their case will be examined by a juvenile judge.

On October 20, during a day of demonstrations renamed "Black Thursday" by Chadians, the

had caused around fifty deaths.

► To read also: In Chad, a month after "Black Thursday", many gray areas remain

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