The treatment of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum by the coup leaders was deemed “unacceptable” by the African Union, who also expressed “deep concern” about the situation.
In a statement, the leader of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, added his voice to those who have expressed worry about 63-year-old Bazoum, who was deposed by military chiefs last month. “Such treatment of a democratically elected president through a regular electoral process is unacceptable,” he said.
UPDATE: Niger President, Bazoum Breaks Silence After Coup
Faki claimed that “concordant sources attest to a worrying deterioration” of the situation.
Both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU foreign policy director Josep Borrell have expressed concern about the allegedly deteriorating living circumstances faced by Bazoum and his family.
CNN reported Wednesday that Bazoum was being kept in isolation and forced to eat plain rice and pasta, with no access to medicines.
Faki also expressed his “strong support” for the decisions adopted by the Economic Community of West African States, which on Thursday approved the deployment of a standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger.
An attempt this week to send a joint team of ECOWAS, UN, and AU representatives to Niger’s capital Niamey was rejected by the coup leaders.
AFP
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