Niger Junta to Try Deposed President for High Treason
Niger’s military leaders have announced plans to prosecute the deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, for alleged “high treason” and “undermining the security of the country”, after toppling his democratically elected government in last month’s coup.
In a statement read out on national television, the army spokesman Colonel-major Amadou Abdramane, said they had been gathering evidence against the deposed leader and what they claimed were his “local and foreign accomplices”.
Mr Bazoum and his family have been held in the basement of his palace in Niger’s capital Niamey since the military seized power in late July.
Attempts to resolve the crisis through dialogue with the regional bloc Economic Community of Wesr African States (ECOWAS) have so far been unsuccessful.
The latest announcement comes as a surprise as it comes hours after the Junta expressed their wish to pursue diplomacy to try and solve the crisis in the country.
On Sunday, the head of a religious delegation of mediators said the head of the Junta, gen Abdourahamane Tchiani, was ready to consider a diplomatic solution with ECOWAS.
In a statement sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, the leader of Nigeria’s Izala Salafist movement, said general Tchiani had said “their doors were open to explore diplomacy and peace in resolving the matter”.
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MORE TALKS
West Africa’s main regional bloc ECOWAS is expected on Monday to push for more talks with the junta, which has signalled a potential willingness to find a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over the July 26 coup.
The bloc’s parliament on Saturday said it wanted to send a committee to meet the junta in Niamey, but the proposed timing of that mission is not clear.
The Peace and Security Council of the 55-nation African Union is also expected to meet on Monday to discuss the situation in Niger, a sign of the level of concern over the possible fallout from West and Central Africa’s seventh coup in three years.
U.S., French, German and Italian troops are stationed in Niger, in a region where local affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State have killed thousands and displaced millions.
Meanwhile, Russian influence has grown as insecurity increases, democracy erodes, and leaders seek new partners to restore order.
Western powers fear Russia’s clout could increase if the junta in Niger follows Mali and Burkina Faso, which ejected the troops of former colonial power France after coups in those countries.
