Nigeria on Friday again demanded the release of Mohamed Bazoum, the Nigerien president held by the junta since his overthrow in a 2023 military coup.

"We want him released. We believe he has committed no crime," Nigerian Information Minister Mohammed Idris said in an interview with France24 television.

Niger’s democratically elected former President Mohamed Bazoum and his wife Hadiza have spent more than 20 months in detention by a military that seized power in 2023 and this week cemented its grip on the country.

On 26 July 2023, Niger’s elected president Mohamed Bazoum was overturned as the military seized power, detaining him, suspending the constitution and dissolving key institutions. The coup d’etat, led by the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), was justified by claims of deteriorating security and economic mismanagement, but its aftermath brought severe repression and human rights violations. The military authorities quickly seized all powers, suppressing opposition voices, limiting civil liberties and civic space and targeting anyone who questioned its rule.

Club de Madrid is deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of Niger’s democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum, and his wife, who have been held under house arrest since the coup in July 2023.

In support of the “Free Bazoum” campaign, initiated by Vanguard Africa and endorsed by numerous global leaders, several of the Members of Club de Madrid have actively joined the petition advocating for President Bazoum’s liberation. This collective action underscores our unwavering commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law.

Niger’s junta has detained former Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum and his wife  at the presidential palace in the capital, Niamey, since the military coup in July 2023.

This month the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an independent expert body that investigates cases of deprivation of liberty, found that the detention of Bazoum and his wife was arbitrary in violation of international human rights law, and called for their immediate release.

According to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UN WGAD) urged the release of Nigerien former President Mohamed Bazoum and his wife, Hadiza, on Wednesday.

Former Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum and his wife have been detained by Niger's military junta since July 2023, when it seized power.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an independent expert body that investigates cases of deprivation of liberty, found that the detention of Bazoum and his wife was arbitrary and in violation of international human rights law, and called for their immediate release. At least 30 officials from the ousted government have been arbitrarily detained, denying them due process and fair trials.

Bazoum is “being held in precarious conditions, have been deprived of electricity for several months and have suffered serious health problems,” the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in its decision sent to Bazoum’s legal team, which provided the document to Bloomberg. The president is being held arbitrarily in violation of international law, it said.

« Les privations de liberté de Mohamed Bazoum et de Hadiza Bazoum sont arbitraires », affirme l'ONU, qui demande la « libération immédiate » de l'ancien président du Niger et de son épouse. Le couple est séquestré à Niamey depuis le putsch du 26 juillet 2023. Aujourd'hui, ce couple retient l'attention du groupe de travail de l'ONU sur la détention arbitraire, qui est sous la tutelle du Conseil des droits de l'homme de l'ONU, à Genève. Comment peut réagir la junte militaire au Niger ? L'Américain Reed Brody appartient au collectif des avocats qui défendent le président déchu.

L'ONU dénonce la détention "arbitraire" de Mohamed Bazoum, président nigérien renversé par un coup d'État militaire en juillet 2023, et son épouse, dans un avis consulté lundi par l'AFP. Ses avocats appellent une nouvelle fois à sa libération.

Niger's president Mohamed Bazoum has spent 550 days as a hostage of the military junta in the capital, Niamey. His lawyers say that his detention is setting a dangerous precedent and have launched a global campaign to have him released.

More than 1,000 people from some 70 countries have signed a petition demanding his release from house arrest since its launch on Monday, 20 January. A half-dozen current and former heads of state and government from Africa and beyond have written their own letters. And a lobbyist from the United States is working to bring Bazoum’s family to Washington soon for meetings with the Donald Trump White House, the State Department, Congress and think-tanks.

Attacks that killed dozens of civilians and soldiers in Niger this month have put a spotlight on the military’s failure to restore security in the West African nation, nearly 18 months after staging a coup.

Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, Niger’s former ambassador to the United States, is among several notable international personalities who are continuing the calls on the West African nation’s governing junta to release ousted President Mohamed Bazoum who has spent over 514 days in detention at the presidential palace. For more, Liman-Tinguiri visited VOA where he sat down with reporter Peter Clottey.

For 500 days, unelected leaders have ruled over a once hopeful country by fiat with no timetable for elections. They have trampled on basic freedoms and imprisoned hundreds of citizens – chief among them, the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who, in 2021, completed the first peaceful handover of power in Niger’s history.

In an op-ed for Le Monde, Nobel Prize winners such as Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, as well as intellectuals and law experts, call for the release of Niger's president, who has been detained since July 2023 by the junta that overthrew him.

Crackdown on Opposition, Media; No Oversight of Military Spending

Nearly three weeks ago, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani betrayed Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum and attempted to seize power in the West African country of 25 million. The coup leaders are now trying to starve Mr. Bazoum to death while holding him hostage. The world faces a critical choice: help Niger restore its democracy, or deal with the consequences of it becoming an autocratic failed state. The decisions made at this grave hour will affect global security for generations to come.

Nine months after a coup in Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, an ally of France and the U.S., remains locked in the presidential residence, cut off from contact with anyone but his doctor.

Renversé par la junte il y a neuf mois, le chef de l’État nigérien élu est retenu prisonnier avec son épouse dans deux pièces de la résidence présidentielle. Ses proches redoutent que la communauté internationale les abandonne à leur sort.