(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Chad's former Prime Minister and opposition leader Succes Masra has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of disseminating racist and xenophobic messages that incited violence.
Masra was also ordered to pay a fine of 1 billion CFA francs ($1.8 million), his lawyer said.
The lawyer said his team planned to appeal.
Masra was responsible for encouraging inter-communal violence in that left 42 people dead on May. Most of the massacre victims were women and children in Mandakao, southwestern Chad.
He was arrested on May 16, charged with "inciting hatred, revolt, forming and complicity with armed gangs, complicity in murder, arson and desecration of graves".
Masra had left Chad in 2022, and only returning under an amnesty agreed in 2024.
He served as premier from January to May last year after signing a reconciliation deal with President Mahamat Idriss Deby.
Masra faced off against Deby in the 2024 presidential elections, winning 18.5 percent against Deby's 61.3 percent.

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