🇹🇩 Chad Jails Ex-Prime Minister Masra for 20 Years in Massacre Case

 

Former Prime Minister Succès Masra faces one of Chad’s toughest political verdicts in recent years after being sentenced to two decades behind bars.

Zig Diaries Arica News
Date: Sunday, 10 August 2025
Time: 16:40 WAT
Location: 📍 N’Djamena, Chad

Chad’s former Prime Minister Succès Masra has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 1 billion CFA francs over charges linked to a deadly inter-community massacre in May.

Former Prime Minister Succès Masra was handed the heavy sentence on Saturday after a Chadian court found him guilty of spreading “hateful and xenophobic messages” and being complicit in murder during the Mandakao massacre earlier this year.

The violence in Mandakao reportedly erupted in May 2025 following an inter-community conflict, leaving multiple casualties. According to judicial authorities, 74 other defendants also stood trial over the incident, with 64 of them receiving the same 20-year prison term.

Masra’s legal team slammed the verdict as a political manoeuvre, calling it “a humiliation” and insisting the charges were built on “empty files”. They accused the government of weaponising the justice system to settle political scores.

Masra served as prime minister from January to May 2024 before resigning after losing the presidential election. His political career has been marked by open clashes with the ruling establishment and repeated arrests.

Fact-check & Background Context

Succès Masra, leader of the Transformers party, rose to prominence as a reformist but faced multiple arrests and charges. The Mandakao massacre in May 2025 occurred amid heightened ethnic tensions in southern Chad. Human rights groups have long accused Chad’s judiciary of lacking independence, especially in politically sensitive cases.

🏷️ Tags: Chad, Succès Masra, Mandakao massacre, African politics, human rights, political trials

#Chad #Masra #HumanRights #AfricaPolitics #Justice