Late last year, the highest court of the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, ruled that Bazoum was arbitrarily detained and called for him to be restored to office, but Niger's newly created State Court has just paved the way for his prosecution.The junta authorities said they planned to prosecute Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason” and for undermining national security. / Photo: AP Archive
Niger’s highest court lifted the immunity of the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, nearly a year after he was overthrown by mutinous soldiers, his lawyer said, opening the door for the military junta to prosecute him for alleged high treason.Bazoum and his family have been under house arrest since a military coup that overthrew his rule last summer.
Before Bazoum was forcibly removed from power, Niger was the West’s last major security partner in the Sahel, the vast region south of the Sahara Desert that extremist groups have turned into a global terror hot spot.
Bazoum’s lawyers have been unable to communicate with him since last October and have had restricted access to case material, according to HRW. Late last year, the highest court of the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, ruled that Bazoum and his family were arbitrarily detained and called for him to be restored to office.
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