ANTANANARIVO, December 17 (Reuters) – A Madagascan court on Friday sentenced six people to terms of up to 20 years in prison for planning to assassinate President Andry Rajoelina.
A Franco-Malagasy, Paul Rafanoharana, presented by the local media as a former adviser to the Head of State, received a heavier sentence, coupled with forced labor.
A former French soldier, Philippe François, was for his part sentenced to ten years in prison.
None of the six people convicted, including a former general of the Malagasy army, admitted the charges. Fourteen of their co-defendants were acquitted.
The suspects were arrested in July and August this year but no details of the assassination plan they were accused of have been made public.
Andry Rajoelina, 47, began a second presidential term in 2019 after a hotly contested election and after an appeal by his opponent, Marc Ravalomanana, to the Constitutional Council.
Rajoelina first seized power on the island in 2009 by overthrowing Marc Ravalomanana in a coup, and held it until 2014.
(Report Lova Rabary-Rakotondravony, French version Tangi Salaün, edited by Sophie Louet)
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