Niger’s deposed president to be tried for ‘high treason,’ coup leaders say

NIAMEY, Niger —  Niger’s mutinous soldiers say they will prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason” and undermining state security, in an announcement made hours after they said they were open to dialogue with West African nations to resolve the mounting regional crisis.

If found guilty, Bazoum could face the death penalty, according to Niger’s penal code.

Spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane said on state television Sunday night that the new military regime 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.”

The announcement said high-ranking West African politicians and “their international mentors” had made false allegations and attempted to derail a peaceful solution to the crisis in order to justify a military intervention. It said Bazoum was being charged following his exchanges with these people. The statement did not specify a date for the trial.

Bazoum, Niger’s democratically elected president, was ousted by members of his presidential guard July 26 and has since been under house arrest with his wife and son in the presidential compound in the capital, Niamey.

People close to the president as well as those in his ruling party say that the family’s electricity and water have been cut off and that they’re running out of food. The junta dismissed these reports Sunday night and accused West African politicians and international partners of fueling a disinformation campaign to discredit the junta.

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International pressure is growing on the junta to release and reinstate Bazoum. Immediately after the coup, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS gave the regime seven days to return him to power or face military intervention, but that deadline came and went with no action from either side.

Last week, ECOWAS ordered the deployment of a “standby” force, but it’s still unclear when or whether it would enter the country. The African Union Peace and Security Council is meeting Monday to discuss Niger’s crisis and could overrule the decision if it felt that wider peace and security on the continent was threatened by an intervention.

But as time drags on, the uncertainty and mixed messages mount.

On Sunday evening, before the military accused Bazoum of treason, a member of the junta’s communication team told journalists that the regime had approved talks with ECOWAS, which would take place in the coming days. That same day, a mediation team of Islamic scholars from neighboring Nigeria who met with the junta over the weekend said the regime was open to dialogue with ECOWAS.

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Previous attempts by ECOWAS to speak with the junta have foundered, with its delegations being barred from entering the country.

The newfound openness to talks, if genuine, could be a result of ECOWAS pressure, including severe economic and travel sanctions that are already taking a toll on the impoverished country’s 25 million people, but it doesn’t mean they’ll go anywhere, experts say.

“Let’s see what these negotiations actually look like, because it’s also in the junta’s benefit to ... entertain talks. That doesn’t mean they’ll be serious about them,” said Aneliese Bernard, a former U.S. State Department official who specialized in African affairs and is now director of Strategic Stabilization Advisors, a risk advisory group.

While talk of dialogue continues, so does military mobilization.

In a memo dated Friday and seen by the Associated Press, Senegal’s security forces ordered “regroupment” at bases in Senegal on Monday as part of the country’s contribution to the ECOWAS mission in Niger. It was unclear what exactly was ordered to move, or where it was going.

In the weeks since the coup, the junta has entrenched itself in power, appointing a new government and leveraging anti-French sentiment against its former colonial ruler to shore up support among the population, creating a tense environment for locals who oppose the junta, as well as for many foreigners and journalists.

In a statement Sunday, the board of directors for the Press House, an independent Nigerien organization that defends journalists, said local and international media were being threatened and intimidated by Nigerien activists who support the junta. The organization said it was deeply concerned about the “very difficult climate” that journalists were operating in.

Since the coup, jihadi violence is also rising. Niger was seen by Western nations as one of the last democratic countries in the sub-Saharan Sahel region that it could partner with to beat back growing jihadi violence linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State. The U.S., France and other European countries have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into propping up Niger’s military. Since the coup, France and the U.S. have suspended military operations.

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On Sunday, Nigerien security forces were ambushed by fighters, believed to be affiliated with Islamic State, who attacked them on a dozen motorcycles, according to a security report for aid groups seen by the AP.

The ambush, combined with an attack last week claimed by the Qaeda-linked group JNIM, signifies a new phase of the conflict in which groups are trying to consolidate power, said Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a foreign policy think tank in New York.

“This is due to the halting of cooperation [with Western forces] and the military being busy with consolidating their coup in Niamey,” he said. It’s also a result of cutting communication and dialogue attempts, established under Bazoum, with some jihadi groups, Nasr said.

A former jihadi, Boubacar Moussa, told the AP that since the coup he’s received multiple phone calls from active jihadis saying they have been celebrating the chaos and greater freedom of movement since Bazoum’s overthrow. As the situation evolves, jihadis will take advantage of the security gap and launch new attacks, Mouossa predicted.

Moussa is part of a nationwide program that encourages jihadi fighters to defect and reintegrate into society. However, it’s unclear if that program will continue under the military regime.