ARCHIVE - On Nation Square in the Chadian capital N'Djamen, the independence monument commemorates the Central African country's struggle for freedom against colonial rule. Photo: Eva Krafczyk/dpa
Keystone
Several leading opposition politicians have been arrested in the Central African country of Chad. Among them is the leader of the Democratic Party, Avocksouma Djona. Like the others arrested, he is a member of the opposition platform GCAP, which had planned a "march of indignation" in the capital N'Djamena on May 2. However, the demonstration had been banned by the authorities. Prior to the arrests, the country's Supreme Court had declared the GCAP and its activities illegal.
Keystone-SDA
25.04.2026, 20:31
SDA
Opposition leader Pahimi Padacké Albert criticized the arrests and called on the government authorities to engage in dialogue with the opposition. Abdel-Nasser Garboa, spokesman for the ruling MPS party, however, justified the arrests with the "maintenance of public order."
Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world. The Sahel state with around 21.5 million inhabitants is around four times the size of Germany and is severely affected by climate change. The country has taken in more than one million refugees from neighboring Sudan, most of whom fled to eastern Chad from the Darfur region to escape the civil war in their homeland.