A democratically elected president who was removed from power by the military a year ago should now lose his immunity from prosecution, Niger’s highest court has ruled.
This decision by the newly established body paves the way for 64-year-old Mohamed Bazoum to be tried by a military court.
He and his wife Hadiza have been held without a telephone in the presidential palace since last July’s coup.
Since then, Niger’s new military leaders have made drastic policy changes, including cutting defense and diplomatic ties with former colonial power France and targeting Russia.
The ruling junta in the capital Niamey has the legal authority to prosecute him on charges of treason, undermining national security and financing terrorism.
Bazoum’s lawyers called the trial a “mockery” and withdrew from the hearing last week.
They say they have not been able to meet their client in person.
“I don’t even know if President Bazoum is aware of the lifting of his immunity,” the former president’s communications adviser, Hamid N’Gade, told the AFP news agency.
“We only get news about him from his doctor, who sees him twice a week. No one knows how he is coping psychologically,” he added.
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