Madagascar ex-Senate chief sentenced to 10 years of hard labour over protest crackdown

Madagascar's former Senate president, Richard Ravalomanana, has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labour after a court in the capital, Antananarivo, found him guilty of complicity in murder linked to the violent crackdown on youth-led protests. The ruling was delivered on Tuesday and concerns unrest that helped bring down the previous government last year. Ravalomanana, a retired general and former ally of ex-President Andry Rajoelina, denied the allegations and said he would appeal.

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Prosecutors said Ravalomanana gave instructions to security forces to use violence against demonstrators during the so-called Gen Z protests in September and October 2025. The court accepted the case against him, while a former national police chief who testified said Ravalomanana was not part of the operational chain of command and had issued no orders to police, gendarmes or soldiers deployed during the unrest. His lawyer also challenged the evidence, asking whether there was confirmed written or verbal proof linking him directly to the violence.

The protests began a year ago over persistent power and water shortages before widening into a broader challenge to Rajoelina's government. According to UN figures cited by local media, at least 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured during the unrest. The crackdown was led by the gendarmerie, where Ravalomanana retained considerable influence at the time, and he was removed as Senate president in October after the protests.

The case carries wider political significance because it is one of several legal proceedings involving senior figures from Rajoelina's former administration since the change of power. The unrest eventually triggered a political crisis that led to Rajoelina's removal and the installation of a new administration headed by Col Michael Randrianirina. Ravalomanana was arrested at his home in December after failing to respond to a summons from the gendarmerie and later held in pre-trial detention at the high-security Imerintsiatosika prison outside Antananarivo.

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His conviction also highlights the continuing scrutiny of the security response to last year's protests, which became a defining moment in Madagascar's recent political upheaval. The sentence may add pressure on other former officials facing legal action, including Ravalomanana himself, who is also under separate corruption investigation. It also underlines the role of the gendarmerie in the crackdown, an issue that has remained central to the legal and political fallout.

It is not yet clear how quickly the appeal process will move or whether the sentence will be suspended while it is heard. The court's full reasoning has not been detailed in the supplied material, and the evidence threshold used to reach the verdict remains disputed by the defence. What happens next will depend on the appeal and on whether further cases linked to the crackdown proceed against other former officials.

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