Police in Chad arrest several people after violent protests against France

DOUALA, Cameroon – At least five people have been arrested in N’Djamena, Chad’s largest city and capital, following sporadic but violent protests against France over its alleged backing of the country’s military junta, the government said Monday.

The Wakit-tamma coalition, a civil society group, held an authorized demonstration on Saturday in the capital, “but it degenerated into an act of vandalism against innocent people, their property as well as the symbols of countries friendly to Chad, notably France,” said the government.

Chad’s ruling junta rejected the notion that “friendly countries” bear responsibility for the ills that plague the country.

Max Loaangar, a Chadian lawyer who is president of the Chadian Human Rights League and coordinator of Wakit-tamma, refuted the government’s accusations.

The government’s actions were inappropriate, according to him. Loaangar nevertheless sees in these demonstrations an important interest of the population in their country’s relationship with France.

The junta “failed in its primary mission of supervising the demonstrations, securing the route and protecting people and property,” said the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (FACT).

Civil society leaders were not responsible for the disturbances, according to FACT. FACT also condemned “the illegal arrest of the demonstrators” and demanded their immediate release.