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The Supreme Court of Chad has rejected an appeal by prominent opposition leader Succes Masra, ruling that he must remain in prison to serve a lengthy sentence.
Masra, a former prime minister and the primary political rival to President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, was arrested in May 2025.
By August 2025, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of inciting violence and complicity to murder.
His defence attorney, Francis Kadjilembaye, expressed deep disappointment after the hearing, noting that the high court chose to completely dismiss their legal arguments and uphold the original conviction.
Human rights organisations have heavily criticised the judicial outcome, with Human Rights Watch characterising the entire process as a politically motivated trial that underscores the administration’s severe intolerance of peaceful dissent.
The high-stakes hearing took place under intense security in the capital city of N’Djamena, where large numbers of police forces blocked off the Supreme Court and barred multiple journalists from entering the courtroom to cover the proceedings.
The ruling comes during a period of escalating political suppression within the Central African nation.
Just weeks before, eight additional opposition figures from a recently dissolved main opposition coalition were sentenced to eight years in prison for insurrection.
Dissident groups continue to face systemic intimidation, strict bans on public assembly, and deadly state violence; a member of Masra’s political party, The Transformers, was recently shot and killed by police during a public demonstration demanding the leader’s release.
