The putschists in Niger want to charge ousted President Mohamed Bazoum with high treason. A spokesman for the military government said in a statement read on television late Sunday evening that there was the necessary evidence for criminal prosecution. The junta accuses Bazoum of undermining the country’s internal and external security.
The ousted president has been held in the basement of the presidential palace since the coup. On Saturday he was allowed to see a doctor for the first time. The putschists threatened to kill him if Ecowas, the Economic Community of West African States, intervened in the conflict as threatened.
This had continued its efforts to find a diplomatic solution over the weekend. A group of Islamic scholars from Nigeria on Sunday explored a possible settlement of the conflict with the putschists in neighboring Niger, with the approval of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu. Nigeria holds the Ecowas Chair. At the same time, Ecowas continued to threaten military intervention if the putschists failed to restore democratic order in the country.
The putschists led by General Abdourahamane Tiani overthrew the democratically elected President Bazoum at the end of July and introduced a new government. The junta enjoys great and growing popularity in the country, largely due to its tough stance on outside interference.