Ex-prime minister of Chad kidnapped by security forces

Armed security forces kidnapped Succes Masra, the ex-prime minister of Chad and opposition leader, on the morning of May 16th, suggesting a deterioration in the country’s democracy, according to France 24 via Reuters.

Authorities appointed Masra prime minister in January 2024 to placate the opposition ahead of Mahamat Idriss Deby’s victory. The national electoral body awarded Mahamat Idriss Deby 61% of the vote.

Masra claimed victory and asserted that opponents planned electoral fraud before the preliminary results and the official announcement. He resigned as prime minister before Mahamat Idriss Deby officially took office.

The prospect of legal proceedings facing Masra would worsen worries over the decline of democracy in the African nation. In Chad, the government often prohibits protests and has been alleged to limit the capacity of media companies.

Masra’s Transformers party announced their leader was “kidnapped” and voiced “deep concern over this brutal action,” reported ABC News. They condemned the act as done “outside any known judicial procedures and in blatant violation of the civil and political rights guaranteed by the constitution.”

Vice president of the Transformers opposition party, Ndolembai Sade Njesada, posted footage on Facebook, seemingly showing masked men in uniform carrying arms and taking Masra out of a building. Masra leads the opposition party.

The government spokesperson gave no immediate reply to a request for comment.

The case occurred during a surge in reported kidnappings and unrest targeting scholars and opposition leaders.

On January 20th, an armed faction kidnapped Dr. Rasha Nasser Al-Ali, a respected Syrian scholar and Arabic literature professor, according to The New Arab. She was traveling from her residence in Misaq Al-Idikhar to the university when the abduction occurred. The Syrian Network for Human Rights denounced the kidnapping and called for freeing all individuals abducted or held without justification.

ABC News, France 24 via Reuters, The New Arab