Africa-Press. The sentencing of eight leaders from the Chadian opposition coalition known as the “Political Actors Consultation Group” (GCAP) to eight years in prison, issued on Friday, May 8, has sparked widespread outrage within political and human rights circles in Chad, amid warnings of a decline in freedoms and a tightening grip on dissenting voices.
Several opposition leaders have expressed increasing concern over what they describe as the shrinking civil and democratic space in the country, considering the trial part of a series of measures targeting political opponents and activists.
The GCAP had previously announced its official withdrawal from political life through a poster displayed outside its headquarters in the capital, N’Djamena, on October 31, 2025, before permanently closing its party offices, a move observers deemed indicative of rising tensions between the authorities and the opposition.
Alifa Younis Mohammed, coordinator of the Socialist Party Without Borders in Europe, stated that what happened to the coalition leaders “cannot be considered justice or a fair trial,” asserting that Chadian authorities are conducting “a new repression campaign against all dissenting voices.”
She added that the country is “sinking deeper into pure dictatorship, where a single ideology is imposed through fear and repression,” noting that the judiciary has become, in her view, “a tool for political manipulation against opponents and advocates for democratic change.”
The opposition leader also linked these developments to a series of previous events, including the killing of opposition figure Yahya Dilo during a military raid targeting his party’s headquarters in 2024, as well as the exile of the party’s Secretary-General, Robert Gam, after months of detention incommunicado.
For his part, Albert Bahimi Padaki, leader of the parliamentary opposition and head of the National Assembly of Chadian Democrats, stated that he was not surprised by the trial’s outcome, considering that the ruling party, “National Rescue Movement,” has been continuing its policy of repression against the opposition since the establishment of the Fifth Republic.
The former Prime Minister added that the country is witnessing “a frantic march towards imposing a single ideology,” which he believes reflects “tension within the authority and a narrowing of its political base,” creating an atmosphere of fear among opponents. Padaki, who expressed concerns about the possibility of being arrested, said: “If I say I do not feel afraid, I would be lying.”
