Overview

• A court in N’Djamena on August 9 convicted former prime minister and opposition leader Succès Masra of hate speech, xenophobia and inciting a southwest Chad massacre that killed about 42 people.
• Judges imposed a 20-year prison term after state prosecutors had sought a 25-year sentence for Masra’s alleged orchestration of the May Mandakao violence.
• The court ordered a freeze on Masra’s assets and mandated a 5 billion West African francs payment to the state in compensation.
• Masra has denied the charges while his lawyers contended that no concrete evidence linked him to the intercommunal attack.
• Observers say the verdict underscores concerns that Chad’s transitional authorities are using the judiciary to curb political dissent and manage deepening ethnic tensions.