Comoros Democracy and Rights

Democracy and rights

This text is under construction and will be published in the spring of 2020.

2020

May

Twenty arrested suspects for planned attack

May 22

Around 20 suspects were arrested in April for planning a murder trial against Union President Azali Assoumani. It states the country’s police authority which further claims that several people involved have moved abroad. Enli gt the police had tried to place a homemade bomb that could be deployed remotely in the president’s aircraft, in connection with Azali Assoumani flying from Anjouan to Mohéli. The security personnel must have refused to receive the package in which the bomb was contained. Among the arrested are a high-ranking military police and another military.

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Ex-president appeals against house arrest

May 9

Former President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Zambi, who has been in house arrest for two years without any prosecution, intends to appeal this to the country’s highest court of appeal. According to his lawyer, Sambi believes his house arrest violates the laws of the country, which allows a person to be held in detention for a maximum of eight months without prosecution. The ex-president believes he is being locked in for political reasons. When arrested in May 2018, he was accused of disrupting the general order, later being identified in a corruption deal involving the sale of Comorian passports to stateless persons residing in the Gulf states. Meanwhile, under house arrest, Zambi’s health has deteriorated significantly and a judge in January has given him the right to travel abroad to receive care, but the former president’s lawyer says he was not given this information.

April

The first case of covid-19 is reported in the Comoros

April 30th

Abbreviated as COM by Abbreviationfinder, the Comoros report their first case of the covid-19 viral disease. The infected person is in his 50s who should have been in contact with a French-Comorian man who recently visited France. Union President Azali Assoumani says the country is now entering a critical phase, while some countries have begun to ease restrictions. Assoumani emphasizes that the most important thing now is to ensure that the country’s health care system is not overloaded, which would then lead to even tougher restrictions to prevent the spread of infection. For now, there is a nightly curfew, but the president says that it is not possible to shut down the entire country because the residents then lose their opportunities to support themselves. According to a source quoted by the AFP news agency, Assoumani is trying to tone down the problems,

Tear gas is used against mosque visitors

26th of April

Security forces use tear gas to disperse people gathered in mosques on the island of Anjouan in violation of the restrictions imposed by Union President Azali Assoumani on April 24 to prevent the spread of the new corona virus. Measures introduced despite the fact that the Comoros have not yet reported a single case of covid-19.

February

CRC wins four new mandates in the second round of elections

February 23

Now the second round of elections is held in the parliamentary elections. It was already clear that President Assoumani’s Party of Comoros Reconstruction (CRC) party had won the election, boycotted by most opposition parties. CRC now adds another four terms to the 18 party won in January. Interior Minister Mohamed Daoudous Orangea party wins two terms. The turnout is just under 71 percent.

January

The ruling party CRC against victory in elections boycotted by the opposition

January 19

The outcome is given when the Comoros now go to parliamentary elections, when the opposition has chosen to boycott the elections. President Azali Assoumani’s Party The Comoros Reconstruction Collection (CRC) wins 18 of the 24 seats, while two seats go to another party within the governing alliance. With regard to the four remaining seats, a second round of elections will be held on 23 February. The turnout is 61.5 percent. The opposition justifies its decision on electoral boycott with the fact that there are no guarantees that it will be implemented correctly. One of the demands they made to take part in the elections was that Comorians living abroad should be allowed to vote in it, something the President did not want to agree with. Some incidents are reported in connection with the election, among other things, several votes cast have been destroyed in the city of Mbeni, where the opposition is strong.