Chad’s Socialist Party Without Borders Secretary General Freed After Eight Months
Robert Gam, secretary general of Chad’s Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF), has been released after being missing for eight months, the party announced on Wednesday. According to PSF, Gam was returned to his home late Tuesday night by a vehicle associated with Chadian intelligence services.
Gam’s disappearance came after a period of threats and harassment, following the death of the party’s leader, Yaya Dillo Djerou. Djerou, who was a relative of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and a political opponent, was killed in February 2024 during a raid by the presidential guard on his party’s headquarters, just before the presidential elections.
Mahamat Ousmane Adam, a PSF national advisor, expressed relief at Gam’s release but mentioned that the party was still uncertain about the conditions of his return. PSF emphasized that Gam had been held for almost eight months without any legal proceedings.
In December, 23 associates of Djerou were released after being arrested following his death. The citizen platform Wakit Tamma condemned Gam’s detention as “unjust and politically motivated,” aimed at suppressing dissent in the face of Chad’s escalating political repression.
International human rights organizations have condemned Chad’s violent crackdown on opposition groups. Another prominent figure, former prime minister Succes Masra, was arrested last month on charges of “incitement to hatred,” accused by authorities of instigating deadly violence in the town of Mandakao, where 42 individuals, mostly women and children, were killed on May 14.
Masra’s legal team from France is seeking to have the charges dismissed, but Chad’s Ministry of Communication has rejected foreign legal intervention, stating that any attempts to influence the justice system under false pretenses will not be tolerated.
