Niger: military tribunal grants ‘provisional release’ to son of deposed president Bazoum

Salem Bazoum, the son of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been imprisoned with his parents at the presidential residence since the coup in July 2023, was provisionally released on Monday (8 January), the country’s military tribunal said in a statement.
The military tribunal in Niamey granted the 23-year old son of the former president who was overthrown by the presidential guard in one of eight coups that occurred in West and Central Africa since 2020. The coup in Niger was widely condemned, leading to sanctions from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), and prompted widespread calls for Bazoum’s release and a return to democratic rule. The court document reportedly states that Salem Bazoum was given “provisional release,” adding that it was “up to him to respond to justice as soon as he is required to do so”. The tribunal did not provide details on the fate of Salem’s parents.
Bazoum and his son were indicted after the last year’s coup, with the latter being charged of conspiracy with the aim of undermining the authority or security of the state. But last month the ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that the family’s detention was arbitrary and ordered Bazoum’s reinstatement. The court, whose decisions cannot be appealed, has given the junta one month to say how it will execute the order, the lawyers said. The new military regime that has ruled the West African country since the coup has distanced itself from Niger’s hitherto close European partners, and most notably France. Niger has also joined the so-called Alliance of Sahel States, a mutual defense pact concluded with two of its neighbors, Mali and Burkina Faso, which after recent coups are also run by militaries.