A court in Chad has sentenced eight opposition leaders to eight years in prison, deepening concerns over political repression under President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno.
The defendants, all members of the opposition coalition known as the Political Actors Consultation Group, or GCAP, were convicted by the High Court in N’Djamena on charges including insurrection, rebellion and disturbing public order. The court also fined each of them 500,000 Central African francs, about $897. Prosecutors had sought 10-year sentences.
The opposition figures were arrested in late April, about a week before a planned “protest and indignation march” that the government had banned. Authorities had accused them of criminal association, rebellion and illegal possession of weapons of war. Their lawyer, Moussa Adoum, rejected the ruling, saying the charges were based on “non-existent offences” and that the defence would seek to take the case to the criminal court of appeal in N’Djamena.
The sentences came shortly after Chad’s Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of GCAP, a coalition of 13 political parties and civil society groups that had sharply criticised Déby’s government and called for a boycott of the 2024 presidential election.
Déby came to power in 2021 after his father, longtime ruler Idriss Déby Itno, was killed while visiting troops fighting rebels. He initially led Chad as a transitional military ruler before winning the May 2024 presidential election, a vote rejected by much of the opposition.
Since then, several prominent government critics have faced prosecution or detention. Former Prime Minister and opposition leader Succès Masra was sentenced in 2025 to 20 years in prison for “incitement to hatred,” in a case Human Rights Watch and opposition supporters described as politically motivated.
The latest ruling is likely to intensify fears that Chad’s political space is narrowing. GCAP had accused the authorities of creating a “climate of terror” through bans on demonstrations, threats and intimidation. In April, the movement called on citizens to protest against injustice, exclusion and restrictions on civil liberties.
The political backdrop has grown even more tense after parliament approved a constitutional revision allowing presidents to serve unlimited seven-year terms. Opposition groups say the change could allow Déby to remain in power indefinitely and extend the family’s decades-long hold on the country.
For Déby’s critics, the jailing of GCAP leaders is another sign that dissent is being criminalised. For the government, the prosecutions are being framed as a matter of public order and national security.
