Chad’s main opposition party, Les Transformateurs (The Transformers), has raised alarm over the deteriorating health of its leader and former Prime Minister, Succes Masra, who has been imprisoned since May 2025 on charges of inciting communal violence.
In a statement on Thursday, October 23, the party appealed for his provisional release on medical grounds, saying his condition requires urgent treatment unavailable in Chad.
Masra’s lawyers have reportedly submitted a formal request for medical evacuation, supported by his attending physician, but the authorities have yet to respond.
Masra, who was arrested following deadly inter-communal clashes in Logone Occidental that left 42 people dead, was in August sentenced to 20 years in prison for hate speech, xenophobia, and inciting a massacre. The former opposition leader, who contested the May 2024 presidential election won by Mahamat Idriss Déby, previously staged a hunger strike in June to protest his detention. His party now warns that his health crisis underscores broader concerns about political repression and the state of human rights in Chad.