In his assertion Sunday night time, the junta spokesman, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane accused Bazoum of “excessive treason” and of “undermining the interior and exterior safety of Niger” — costs that might carry the dying penalty.
Abdramane mentioned the gathered “obligatory proof” may very well be used to prosecute Bazoum “earlier than competent nationwide and worldwide authorities.”
The Related Press reported final week that Niger’s junta has in non-public conversations with Western officers threatened to kill Bazoum, who’s being held in a basement of his residence, within the occasion of a navy intervention.
Within the fast aftermath of the coup, the leaders of ECOWAS, a regional bloc of nations, had imposed a deadline on the Nigerien junta, giving it one week to revive Bazoum to workplace. However that deadline handed final week with no indicators of navy motion.
ECOWAS reiterated its warnings after an emergency summit final Thursday, saying that the bloc was mobilizing a standby navy drive, however it didn’t present a timeline or specifics for a doable navy intervention.
In the meantime, the navy junta named a brand new authorities final week and staged rallies in reveals of defiance.
Skeptics of navy motion have identified that two of Niger’s neighbors, Mali and Burkina Faso, would possibly assist the Nigerien junta if ECOWAS had been to ship troops.
Solely hours earlier than the doable costs in opposition to Bazoum had been introduced on Sunday night time, a spiritual delegation visiting from neighboring Nigeria put out an announcement that raised hopes for de-escalation, saying that the navy junta had proven a willingness to have interaction diplomatically.
