The joint trial against the 401 detainees held in Chad’s Koro Toro prison during the protests of last October 20, in which at least 50 people lost their lives and 300 were injured has ended on Saturday, with nearly 300 protesters released.
The judicial process has been without lawyers, after the country’s Bar Association Council denounced procedural errors and the government’s refusal to transfer them under what conditions the accused had been transferred to the prison located 600 kilometers from the capital, according to Radio France International.
The news came to light this Saturday, when judicial sources reported that the judicial team appointed by the authorities had to judge this Saturday those detainees who were not linked to the demonstrations, reports the same media.
The same source of information reported that a total of 82 minors among the 401 detainees have been returned to N’Djamena, the capital of the country.
The protests, which according to international organizations claimed the lives of at least 50 people and injured 300, broke out after the junta decided to extend for another two years the mandate of Mahamat Idriss Déby, who had initially planned to leave office to return power to a civilian government.
The leader of Chad’s junta has previously described those protests as an «organized insurrection» supported by «foreign powers» and accused the demonstrators of «cold-bloodedly killing civilians and assassinating members of the security forces» with a view to generating a «civil war».
