Former Niger President, Mohamed Youssoufou, has announced his intention to file a lawsuit against the former French Ambassador, Sylvain Ité, for defamation. This announcement comes after Ité accused Youssoufou of being involved in the July 2023 coup during a hearing at the French Parliament.
Youssoufou, who led Niger from April 2011 to April 2021 before being succeeded by Mohamed Bazoum—who was later overthrown in a military coup in July 2023—made this announcement through his lawyer, Ilou Youssoufou, on Wednesday, February 21.
In a statement titled “Denial from the Lawyer of the Former President of the Republic of Niger, His Excellency Mr. Issoufou Mohamed,” the lawyer stated, “The former President Issoufou has no direct or indirect connection to the July 26, 2023 coup, and the so-called evidence presented by Mr. Sylvain Ité to the National Defense and Armed Forces Committee of the French National Assembly is nothing but a fabric of lies.”
The former French Ambassador to Niger, who was expelled from the country following the coup, spoke during a hearing by the Defense Committee in the French Parliament on November 29, 2023, about “the direct involvement of the former President Youssoufou” in the July 26 coup against his successor, Mohamed Bazoum. Sylvain Ité stated before the French deputies, “We can say without much risk of being wrong that (Mohamedou Youssoufou) incited or at least accompanied the coup.”
French official sources mention a dispute between the former President Mohamed Youssoufou and his successor Mohamed Bazoum, a claim that Youssoufou’s lawyer refutes by stating, “He had no relation, neither close nor distant, with the July 26 coup.”
Sylvain Ité has declined to comment on the matter. The lawyer of the former Nigerien President, Mohamed Youssoufou, has not disclosed when or where the lawsuit will be filed, stating, “Given the seriousness of the alleged facts, President Issoufou Mohamed has decided to file a complaint to achieve justice.”
French newspaper “Le Monde,” discussing the issue, mentioned that recordings of Sylvain Ité’s statements, published in the middle of this month, were not intended for release. Both the former French Ambassador to Niger and the French Foreign Ministry have declined to comment on the matter.
Sylvain Ité was at the center of the diplomatic crisis between Paris and Niamey last year. After the coup led by General Abdurrahman Tiani, the former commander of the presidential guard, and France’s stance on the coup, the relationship between France and its former colony deteriorated.
France refused to recognize the coup authorities and demanded the reinstatement of the deposed president, supporting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for a military intervention to restore Bazoum to power.
In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Niger’s transitional government declared the then French Ambassador, Sylvain Ité, persona non grata and gave him 48 hours to leave the country on August 25. After the deadline passed and Paris insisted on keeping its ambassador, on August 31, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Niger’s transitional government announced the cancellation of the diplomatic visas for the French Ambassador and his family members and instructed the police to expel him from the French embassy in Niamey.
Paris rejected this decision until September 27, 2023. About a month after the expulsion order was issued, Ité left Niger for France, and subsequently, Paris closed its embassy in Niger in December 2023.
