Niger revokes immunity of ousted president Mohamed Bazoum
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Nigerien authorities have accused Bazoum of treason, financing terrorism, and plotting to undermine the state.
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Niger's ousted President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP)
Niger's top court revoked the immunity of ousted president Mohamed Bazoum on Friday, opening the door for a possible trial following his removal in a military coup in July 2023.
"The court orders the lifting of Mohamed Bazoum's immunity," said Abdou Dan Galadima, president of the court, created in November by Niger's new military government.
Nigerien authorities accused Bazoum of treason, financing terrorism, and plotting to undermine the state.
He and his wife Hadiza have been held at the presidential residence since July 26.
A team of lawyers representing Bazoum told AFP that the decision "clearly condones serious violations of the rights of the defense and marks the start of legal proceedings against the president, who is held illegally." One of the lawyers, Moussa Coulibaly, described the decision as "the advent of the arbitrary," noting its "extremely serious consequences."
Bazoum, 64, is accused of asking French President Emmanuel Macron and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for support for "an armed intervention" during the coup.
Niger undoes what colonialists established
In the late 1890s, France began colonizing Niger. The Sahel nation won independence in 1960 as part of a broader decolonization movement triggered by political upheavals and Paris' surrender of African territories.
France retained its colonies in Africa roughly until the 1960s, exercising its dominance over North, Western, and Equatorial Africa. Shortly after the formation of the Fifth French Republic in 1958, countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Congo, Chad, and the Central African Republic gained independence.
Despite this fact, Paris failed to completely abandon the region, continuing to intervene in its internal affairs, including by military means.
Since the start of his political career, Bazoum has maintained a moderate stance concerning former colonial powers.
But on June 23, Niger's parliament approved a new national anthem, marking the first steps to free the country of any relics of French colonization.
