Following the murder of former dictator Idriss Deby in 2021, Chad has sentenced nearly 400 rebels to life in prison, according to a prosecutor.
They were found guilty during a collective trial of “acts of terrorism, mercenarism, recruiting of juvenile soldiers, and assaulting the head of state,” according to Mahamat El-Hadj Abba Nana, the prosecutor for the nation’s capital N’Djamena.
24 other detainees were found not guilty, according to Nana, while “more than 400” were given life sentences.
The Front for Change and Accord in Chad (FACT), the largest rebel organization in the nation, started an onslaught on the north of the nation from bases in Libya in the early months of 2021.
Marshal Deby, who had ruled Chad with an iron fist for the past three decades, was declared dead on April 20, 2021, according to the army.
Deby passed away shortly after winning a presidential election, giving him his sixth term in government.
One of his sons, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, took over as leader of a 15-person military junta right after after him.
