A major opposition leader and former prime minister of Chad was arrested early Friday, fueling fears of another crackdown on dissent in a country that has repeatedly used state power to silence critics.
The politician, Succès Masra, was arrested on charges of incitement to hatred and revolt, complicity in murder and the desecration of graves, Chad’s prosecutor, Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye, said, in connection with an outbreak of violence between communities this week that killed dozens of women and children.
Civil society and political activists have recently faced imprisonment, torture, intimidation and death at the hands of Chad’s security forces. Supporters of Mr. Masra, Chad’s best-known opposition figure and leader of the Transformers political party, saw his arrest as a part of that pattern, and in hundreds of social media posts, they clamored for the government to let him go.
“We demand his unconditional release,” wrote one of them, Robine Zita, on his Facebook page.
“Rise up, Transformers, for the immediate liberation of our president,” wrote another, Sabine Denehybe.
Parts of Africa have become increasingly tough places to be an opposition politician. On Tuesday, Mali’s military junta announced it was dissolving all political parties in the country, and last month, one of its most vocal detractors was arrested after criticizing the country’s military rulers. Also last month, Ivory Coast’s main opposition leader, Tidjane Thiam, was barred from running in the coastal country’s upcoming presidential election over his French citizenship — despite having relinquished it in order to run.
In Chad, a landlocked country in north-central Africa, Mr. Masra was taken from his residence by men in military uniforms at 5 a.m. local time, the secretary general of the Transformers said in a statement, calling the arrest an “abduction” because no court summons was produced. Later, the party released another statement on its Facebook page, saying its leaders and Mr. Masra’s lawyers had been able to see him, and calling on the party’s supporters to stay calm and await instructions.
