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Niger’s ruling junta said the country’s ousted president would be charged with “high treason” and undermining national security, hours after it signalled it was open to dialogue with its neighbours who have demanded Mohamed Bazoum be restored.
The now-ruling National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland had “gathered the necessary evidence to prosecute before competent national and international authorities the ousted president and his local and foreign accomplices for high treason and for undermining the internal and external security of Niger”, junta spokesman Colonel Amadou Abdramane announced on state television on Sunday night.
Bazoum potentially faces the death penalty if convicted of the allegations, according to Niger’s penal code.
The pro-western leader has been in detention with his wife and son since he was ousted on July 26 by mutinous soldiers led by General Omar Tchiani, head of the presidential guard.
His allies say he is being held hostage and denied access to fresh food and a doctor, leading to concerns about his health. An ally of the deposed president told the Financial Times that Bazoum had been provided with food and seen by his doctor over the weekend.
The treason allegations came hours after the new regime told a group of visiting Nigerian Islamic leaders they were open to negotiations with the Economic Community of West African States that has threatened military intervention if Bazoum is not reinstated.
Nigeria-led Ecowas said on Thursday that the junta had “repelled” its mediation efforts as the bloc’s defence chiefs were ordered to place their forces on “standby”.
Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, an Islamic cleric who led the delegation to Niger on the orders of Nigerian president Bola Tinubu, told the Al Jazeera network that Tchiani had “accepted to have fully direct discussions with the leaders of Ecowas”.
“We want to create an avenue whereby the leaders of the junta coup in Niger will have a dialogue with the Ecowas leaders to understand each other so that peace will continue to reign in our region,” he added.
Ecowas has imposed sweeping sanctions on Niger since the putsch which has led to increased food prices in the landlocked nation of 25mn that is heavily reliant on its neighbours for food imports. Nigeria, which supplies most of Niger’s electricity, has cut off supplies causing long hours of rolling blackouts.
The junta has called the sanctions “illegal, inhumane and humiliating” and is seeking sanctions relief from the bloc.
Additional reporting by David Pilling in London
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