•President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno of Chad
Nine leaders of Chad’s GCAP opposition movement have been arrested and placed in detention by President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno’s authorities ahead of a protest they had called for May 2.
The nine were arrested on Saturday “and are still in detention this morning” in a police facility, Hissein Abdoulaye, a spokesman for the GCAP grouping, said.
A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed they “are currently in detention”, reports AFP.
GCAP had called for a “march of protest and indignation” on May 2 but the government has declared a ban on the rally.
In early October, a constitutional amendment establishing a seven-year presidential term renewable without limit was passed by an overwhelming majority in parliament, a little less than two years after the constitution was adopted by referendum.
This new version, slammed by critics, paves the way for Deby to remain in power indefinitely.
The opposition party Les Transformateurs condemned the arrests saying: “These events disturbingly recall the arbitrary arrest of (party) president Succes Masra since May 16, 2015.”
In May 2025, Masra, a former prime minister, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “incitement to hatred and violence,” in a trial that rights watchdog HRW called “politically motivated”.
