{"id":34414,"date":"2026-05-13T15:30:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=34414"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:33:08","slug":"pressure-mounts-on-chad-over-jailing-of-opposition-figures","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/pressure-mounts-on-chad-over-jailing-of-opposition-figures\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressure mounts on Chad over jailing of opposition figures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The sentencing of eight opposition members in Chad is adding to growing concern over political freedom under President Mahamat Idriss D\u00e9by.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The group, linked to the opposition coalition Groupe de concertation des acteurs politiques (GCAP), was handed eight-year prison sentences in a move critics say reflects an increasingly hostile environment for dissenting voices in the country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The convictions come less than a year after former Chadian Prime Minister and opposition leader Succ\u00e8s Masra was sentenced to 20 years in prison, fuelling accusations that authorities are systematically cracking down on political opponents.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Since the introduction of Chad\u2019s Fifth Republic, opposition groups and civil society organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about shrinking democratic space and restrictions on political activity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chadian civil society activist Christophe Kagne said the latest sentences are likely to deepen fears among opposition supporters.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany people feel that criticism of the government is becoming increasingly difficult and risky,\u201d Kagne said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He warned that continued pressure on opposition groups could heighten political tensions and further damage confidence in Chad\u2019s democratic process.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22976,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-34414","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The sentencing of eight opposition members in Chad is adding to growing concern over political freedom","published_date":"2026-05-13 15:30:34","news_description":"The sentencing of eight opposition members in Chad is adding to growing concern over political freedom","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34416,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34414\/revisions\/34416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=34414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}