Chad: 400 rebels imprisoned for life after death of ruler

More than 400 rebels were given life sentences in Chad on Tuesday following former ruler Idriss Deby Itno's death, who was killed in 2021, said a public prosecutor.

After the end of a mass trial, the rebels were sentenced for "acts of terrorism, mercenarism, recruitment of child soldiers and assaulting the head of state," stated Mahamat El-Hadj Abba Nana, prosecutor for the capital N'Djamena.

He refused to reveal the detailed figure of the rebels imprisoned, stating that only "more than 400 were sentenced" to life, while officials acquitted 24 other defendants.

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Last month, the trial opened behind closed doors at Klessoum prison which is located 20 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of the capital.

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In the early months of 2021, an offensive was launched by the main rebel group of the country, the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), in the north of the country from its bases located in Libya.

On April 20, the army announced that Marshal Deby, the iron-fisted ruler of Chad for the previous three decades, had succumbed to the wounds which he had sustained in the fighting.

The officials announced his death just a day after his victory in a presidential election was announced which gave him a sixth term in office.

One of his sons General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno immediately succeeded him as he took the charge of a 15-member military junta.

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FACT lawyer Francis Lokoulde said that various defendants were ordered to pay damages of more than $32 million to the government and $1.6 million to the family of the ex-president.

"It's a masquerade that follows no law, no convention. All that comes from a willingness to criminalise our struggle. The verdict is a non-event," FACT leader Mahamat Mahdi Ali said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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