The guilty verdict and 20-year sentence imposed on August 9, 2025, on Succès Masra, leader of Chad's main opposition party, is the culmination of a trial based on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said today.
Masra, the former prime minister, is an ardent critic of President Mahamat Idriss Déby. The criminal court in Ndjamena found Masra guilty of spreading racist and xenophobic messages and of complicity in murder tied to intercommunity conflict.
"The sentence given to Succès Masra sends a chilling message to critics and demonstrates the Chadian government's intolerance of criticism and political opposition parties," said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The courts should not be used for such political purposes."
Masra was arrested on May 16 and accused of inciting hatred and violence through social media posts after intercommunal clashes killed 42 people on May 14 in Mandakao, in the Logone Occidental province, located in the southwest.
Human Rights Watch has not yet seen the court's judgment, but spoke with people who were at the trial, including some of Masra's lawyers. While clashes between herders and farmers are common in southern Chad, intercommunal violence has become more acute over the past several years, resulting in scores of deaths.
Masra, who pleaded not guilty, was tried alongside 74 co-defendants, all accused of collaboration in the killings at Mandakao. While at least 9 of the defendants were released, those remaining also received 20-year sentences. The court also imposed a fine of 1 billion CFA francs (approximately US$1.8 million) against Masra and his co-defendants. Lawyers for Masra and the other defendants have announced their intention to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Masra's conviction comes amid shrinking political space across Chad. He and supporters of his opposition party The Transformers (Les Transformateurs) faced threats prior to the May 2024 presidential elections, in which Masra ran against Déby, the then-transitional president. The period leading up to the elections was marred by violence.
On February 28, 2024, government security forces killed Yaya Dillo, the president of the Socialist Party Without Borders (Parti socialiste sans frontières), during an attack on the party's headquarters in N'Djamena. More than one year on, the authorities have not clarified the circumstances of his death.
Political violence has been on the rise since 2021, when security forces used excessive force, including live ammunition, and fired indiscriminately to disperse opposition-led demonstrations across the country. Several protesters were killed. The authorities detained activists and opposition party members, and security forces beat journalists covering the protests. The violence culminated on October 20, 2022, when security forces fired live ammunition at protesters, killing and injuring scores of demonstrators, and beat and chased people into their homes.
The protests were held to mark the date on which the military administration, in power since the death of President Idriss Déby Itno-father of the current president-on April 20, 2021, had initially promised to hand over power to a civilian government. Hundreds of men and boys were arrested and many were taken to Koro Toro, a high security prison 600 kilometers from N'Djamena. Several detainees died en route to Koro Toro, where protesters suffered further abuse.
Masra fled the country after the October 2022 violence but returned after regional peace efforts by President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in his role as facilitator of the Chad political transition process for the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
The resulting Kinshasa Accord suspended an arrest warrant against Masra and guaranteed him and his supporters safe return from exile. It also provided legal guarantees to The Transformers party to freely conduct political activity. Upon Masra's return in January 2024, he accepted the position of prime minister, but resigned in May 2024, claiming the presidential vote had been rigged.
President Tshisekedi and ECCAS should call for the restoration of political rights and guarantees and full compliance with the Kinshasa Accord, Human Rights Watch said.
"Masra's conviction has upended hopes for a meaningful political opposition and an independent judiciary in Chad," Mudge said. "Chad's regional and international supporters should denounce this politically motivated judgment and urge the country's leaders to make good on promises for democratic reform."
