A court in Chad has handed out jail terms of between two and three years to more than 260 people arrested after anti-government protests in October, while defence lawyers have argued that the trial was “illegal”.
A total of 401 people were put on mass trial in Koro Toro prison, a high-security jail located in the desert 600km (375 miles) from the capital N’Djamena last week.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, public prosecutor Moussa Wade Djibrine said that 262 people were given jail sentences, 80 were given suspended terms and 59 were acquitted, the AFP news agency reported.
The trial ended on Friday after four days, with only state TV having the right to provide coverage, and the sentences were announced on Monday after the prosecutor returned to the capital.
The defendants were charged with taking part in an unauthorised gathering, destroying belongings, arson and disturbing public order.
Approximately 50 people, including 10 members of the security forces, died when police opened fire on demonstrators in N’Djamena and several other cities on October 20, according to an official toll.
But opposition groups say the real count was much higher, and allege unarmed civilians were subject to a mass killing.
Source: aljazeera.com
