In Chad, former Prime Minister and leading opposition figure Succès Masra, along with eight other opposition leaders, was granted a presidential pardon this Friday, August 13, 2026, by President Mahamat Idriss Déby.
Masra, one of the most outspoken critics of President Mahamat Idriss Déby, had been sentenced a year earlier to 20 years in prison on charges of hate speech, xenophobia, and incitement to mass violence.
The eight additional freed opposition leaders were all members of the Groupe de Concertation des Acteurs Politiques (GCAP), a major opposition coalition that was dissolved by the Supreme Court last April. They had previously been sentenced in May to eight years in prison for inciting insurrection.
According to the decree published on the official Facebook page of Chad’s Presidency, the pardon entails a “full remission of custodial sentences for the convicted individuals.”
Unity over division: the call for national reconciliation
Following his release, Ndolembai Sadé Njesada, Vice-President of Masra’s Les Transformateurs party, expressed gratitude for the gesture, stating, “We thank the President for overcoming obstacles and choosing to move forward in the spirit of national unity that is taking shape. We hope to finally sit at the table and advance the cause of peace.”
A turbulent path to this moment
Masra, now 42, an economist by training, fled Chad in October 2022 after security forces opened fire on protesters opposing the extension of the military-led transition under Déby’s junta. He returned from exile after reaching a reconciliation agreement with the President and was later appointed Prime Minister five months before the 2024 presidential election. That contest, widely disputed and boycotted by most opposition parties, saw Mahamat Déby secure over 60% of the vote.
Despite his loss, Masra contested the results and was arrested in May 2025. He was swiftly sentenced to 20 years in prison in a trial many observers described as politically motivated.
