By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Chad’s President Mahamat Déby has pardoned political rival and former Prime Minister Succès Masra who was sentenced a 20-year jail term, paving the way for his release from prison.
Masra, a vocal critic of Déby claimed to have defeated him in a 2024 presidential election. The opposition leader had been arrested last May over alleged links to a clash which took place in the south-west of the country.
He was accused of spreading hateful messages on social media linked to the violence in which authorities said at least 42 people were killed.
The decision to pardon Masra comes four days after the President promised to free several convicted individuals, aiming to foster national unity, peace and reconciliation.
According to authorities, the presidential pardon does not amount to an amnesty, implying that all nine of those pardoned, including Masra could still be prosecuted.
A statement from the presidency said the eight other pardoned political figures belonged to the Group for the Coordination of Political Actors (GCAP), a renowned coalition in the country.
They were each serving eight-year prison terms after being arrested in April for flouting the government order and held a banned protest.
The statement described all nine recipients of state pardons as people “in a position of power but not in line with justice”.
Meanwhile, a separate decree allows several detainees across the country to benefit from a partial remission of their sentences.
Following the announcement of Déby’s decision to pardon the opposition figures, Masra’s Transformers Party said in a Facebook post that it marked the opening of a “new page. Let’s write it together.”
They had previously decried Masra’s arrest as a kidnapping by military officers “carried out outside of any known judicial procedure”.
News of the state pardons was also welcomed by the opposition RNDT-Le Réveil party, which called it “an encouraging signal, which should pave the way for a broader dynamic of political openness in the country”.
It also urged Déby to further engage in lasting efforts towards sincere and inclusive dialogue for the benefit of the nation.
Masra’s party had boycotted legislative polls that December due to concerns over the transparency of the electoral process.
The Déby family has ruled Chad for more than three decades.
The military installed Déby as Chad’s leader after his father, Idriss Déby Itno, was killed by rebels in 2021.
