The defendants are accused of undermining Chad’s constitutional order, criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of firearms, and complicity.The eleven officers of the Chadian national army and the president of the Chadian Human Rights Organization, Baradine Berdei Targuio, who were arrested on charges of attempting to destabilize state institutions, were officially placed under arrest on Thursday, January 5, 2023. 

They have been detained since December 8, 2022 in the premises of the intelligence services as part of the investigation into the coup plot.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the government said that the investigating judge has charged them in accordance with the opening statement of the public prosecutor. 

They are to appear before judges for charges of undermining constitutional order, criminal association, illegal possession of firearms and complicity, according to the judicial information. 

According to sources, they have been transferred for days from the premises of the Renseignements Generaux to the Klessoum prison and correctional facility, in the southeast district of Ndjamena.

On December 8, 2022, the coup suspects were arrested by personnel of the National Police’s General Directorate of Intelligence and Investigations. 

The government accuses them of wanting to destabilize institutions of the republic by plotting a coup. 

The authorities intend to shed full light on the case, government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh said.

General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno came to power in April 2021 following the death of his father, Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, in a counter-offensive by the army against rebels of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT).