• Court sentenced Succès Masra to 20 years in prison and a CFA1 billion fine.
• Conviction followed deadly 2023 Mandakao clashes that killed 42, mostly women and children.
• Defense denounced ruling as politically motivated and based on weak evidence.

Chad’s former Prime Minister and opposition leader Succès Masra received a 20-year prison sentence on August 9, 2025. The court also fined him CFAone billion (about €1.5 million). Judges found him guilty of complicity in murder and inciting hateful, xenophobic messages. The charges stem from deadly intercommunal violence in Mandakao that killed 42 people, mostly women and children.

Prosecutors relied on a 2023 audio recording they said urged armed rebellion. Masra’s lawyers argued it was an anti-terrorism statement taken out of context. They denounced the absence of credible evidence. His lawyer, Me Kadjilembaye Francis, called the ruling “extremely harsh for someone who did nothing” and described it as a “blatant injustice.”

Masra rejected all accusations in court and urged his supporters to “remain dignified and calm.” He founded the political party Les Transformateurs in 2018 and briefly served as transitional Prime Minister in 2024. After his arrest, party leadership passed temporarily to Bedoumra Kordjé, a former minister and ex-vice president of the African Development Bank.

A longtime critic of President Mahamat Idriss Déby, Masra fled Chad to escape repression. In October 2023, he returned under a reconciliation agreement brokered by DR Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi and the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) after a year in exile.

The verdict comes amid rising political tension in Chad, marked by intensified repression of opposition voices and recurring communal clashes. The war in neighboring Sudan has worsened economic instability, driving a surge in refugee arrivals and straining national resources. Supporters see the conviction as a move to sideline one of the regime’s most prominent rivals.

Charlène N’dimon