The military junta in Niger has declared its intention to bring high treason and security-related charges against ousted president Mohamed Bazoum.
This is the most recent indication that the junta intends to defy international pressure and keep Bazoum in power.
He has been imprisoned in the palace’s basement since the military overthrew the government about three weeks ago.
Even though Mr. Bazoum was being held in “difficult” circumstances, his doctor reported that he was in “good spirits” after a visit.
In response to growing international pressure for Mr. Bazoum’s release, Saturday’s visit was approved.
However, in a sign that it is hardening its stance, the junta claimed that it had gathered evidence to bring charges against “the deposed president and his local and foreign accomplices for high treason and undermining the internal and external security of Niger” in a statement read out on state TV.
There are growing worries about the health of Bazoum, 63, who is being held captive alongside his wife and son.
On July 26, the presidential guards unit’s commander, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, overthrew him and proclaimed himself the new president of Niger.
The regional West African bloc Ecowas has threatened military action to put an end to the coup, but it has not yet acted on its threat.
The coup leaders have warned that they will defend themselves against any intervention.
Ecowas has also imposed sanctions on the junta, including cutting electricity to Niger. This has caused blackouts in the capital, Niamey, and other major cities.
On Saturday, a high-powered delegation of Muslim clerics from neighbouring Nigeria met junta leaders in Niamey in a bid to mediate an end to the crisis.
Junta-appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine said he was optimistic that talks with Ecowas would take place in the coming days “to discuss how the sanctions against us will be lifted”.
The coup in Niger mirrored similar takeovers in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, amid an Islamist insurgency and a growing Russian influence in the wider Sahel region through its mercenary group Wagner.
Despite his captivity, Bazoum was able to publish an article stating that he was a hostage and that the coup would have “devastating consequences for our country, our region, and the entire world”.
Bazoum is reported to have lost a “worrying” amount of weight, while his 20-year-old son, who has a chronic medical condition, was also reportedly denied care.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk described the conditions of the detention as inhumane, degrading, and in violation of international human rights law.
His daughter Zazia, 34, who was on holiday in France during the coup, told the UK-based Guardian newspaper last week that her father, mother, and brother had no clean water or electricity and were living on rice and pasta.
Fresh food was rotting in the fridge because there was no power, she said.
Bazoum has been seen once since he was overthrown, in a photo released after he met Chad’s leader, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno.
Déby met both the junta and Bazoum soon after the coup in a failed bid to resolve the crisis.
