The coup leaders in Niger do not give in and also seem to be looking for new reasons to legitimize their conduct. This is how the accusation of high treason launched against the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, whom they want to prosecute, can be interpreted. The Nigerian Penal Code provides for the death penalty for this serious offence.
According to a statement read on national television by the spokesman for the military junta, Major Amadou Abdramane, "the Nigerien government has gathered the evidence to prosecute the deposed president and his national and foreign accomplices for high treason before the competent national and international authorities." and for threatening the internal and external security of Niger”. Such accusations are based on Bazoum's “exchanges” with national figures, “foreign heads of state” and “heads of international organizations”. Among these foreign presidents is the Frenchman Emmanuel Macron, who had his main ally in the Sahel and Niger in Bazoum, the only remaining base of the regional anti-jihadist device.
The announcement by the coup leaders adds further concern about the circumstances of Bazoum and his family, confined to their residence since the coup on July 26 and who, according to some sources, are in an increasingly precarious situation due to the lack of electricity and food.
It was somewhat incomprehensible that, in the days following the coup, Bazoum could continue to communicate with fled ministers and foreign leaders, and that he even sent an article that was published in The Washington Post in which he urged the international community to restore peace. constitutional order in your country. The news of Bazoum's prosecution leads one to think that, perhaps, his conversations were recorded by the coup leaders and their content will be used as incriminating material before an eventual trial. If these recordings exist, they could be potentially embarrassing for some of the ousted president's interlocutors.
The coup leaders deny that Bazoum is in poor health and assure that his doctor can visit him regularly.
The board denounced "the illegal, inhuman and humiliating sanctions" imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (Cedeao), although it qualified that measures have been ordered to mitigate their effects as much as possible. Cedeao threatened to use force against the coup leaders and activated its contingent of troops to intervene, but there are no known concrete plans or schedules to materialize such a threat.
