If found guilty, Bazoum could face the death penalty, according to Niger’s penal code, The Guardian reported.
Col Maj Amadou Abdramane, a spokesperson for the coup leaders, said on state television on Sunday night that the military junta 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 identify specific western countries and did not specify a date for the trial.
Bazoum, Niger’s former president, was ousted by members of his presidential guard on 26 July 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 the family’s electricity and water have been cut off and they are running out of food. The junta dismissed these reports on Sunday night and accused west African politicians and international partners of fuelling a disinformation campaign to discredit it.
International pressure is growing on the junta to release and reinstate Bazoum. Immediately after the coup, the west African regional bloc Ecowas gave the junta seven days to return him to power and threatened military force if it did not happen, but that deadline came and went with no action from either side.
SKH/PR
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