A court in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, has sentenced eight leaders of the opposition coalition Coordination of Political Actors (GCAP) to eight years in prison after convicting them on charges including “rebellion,” “armed assembly,” “civil disobedience,” and “possession of war weapons,” in a case that has sparked widespread political and human rights criticism.
Among those sentenced was Max Kemkoye, leader of the Union for Democracy and Development Party and head of the GCAP coalition, who was convicted of “criminal conspiracy” and “rebellion.” The court upheld similar charges against the remaining defendants, while Bidi Valentin, head of the African Party for Peace and Social Justice, was convicted of possessing unlicensed firearms.
The ruling was delivered in the absence of the defendants, who remain detained in Klessoum prison. Attendance inside the courtroom was limited to defense lawyers and a small number of relatives. Opposition supporters also criticized the court for issuing the verdict an hour earlier than scheduled, accusing authorities of deliberately limiting public attendance and preventing displays of solidarity with the opposition figures.
Defense lawyers described the sentences as “harsh and rushed,” arguing that prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the charges. A spokesperson for the defense team said the case amounted to “judicial assassination” aimed at silencing dissenting voices amid ongoing political tensions in the country.
The verdict triggered anger within opposition circles, with Hussein Abdallah, spokesperson for the Patriots Party, calling on what he described as the “democratic opposition” to withdraw from parliament and the senate in protest against the convictions. He argued that the trial reflected efforts to consolidate political dominance and suppress opposition voices in Chad.