Niger's junta vows to prosecute ousted President Mohamed Bazum for 'high treason'

General Abdurahman Chiani, commander of the presidential guard regiment who led the junta, greets coup supporters in Niamey. Photo: BALINA BOUREIMA/ANADOLU < p>Niger's new ruling junta says it will prosecute ousted president Mohamed Bazum for treason over his negotiations with foreign leaders.

Mr Bazum is in detention along with the rest of his family since he was ousted by his own presidential guard late last month.

A former key Western ally in the region could be sentenced to death under Niger's penal code.

Colonel Amadou Abdraman, spokesman for the military rebels, said in a statement read on state television that the military authorities «gathered the necessary evidence to prosecute the ousted president … for high treason and undermining Niger's internal and external security.»

Mr. Bazum's supporters say he is denied fresh food and running water while in detention, and his ailing son is unable to see a doctor. The junta denies the allegations.

Mohamed Bazum speaks at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, September 2022. Photo: MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS Belt of coups in countries

The military coup removed a stronghold of Western foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa and added to the «coup belt» countries across the Sahel, where governments have been overthrown by soldiers in recent years. Some of them have since turned to Moscow's Wagner mercenary group for support.

The Economic Community of West African States, a bloc of countries, has said it will not tolerate a coup, but appears to have abandoned its initial threat of military intervention and declared that is seeking a diplomatic solution.

Colonel Abdraman said in a statement that unnamed senior West African politicians and «their international mentors» had made false accusations and attempted to undermine the peace solution to justify military intervention.

< p> He said that Mr. Bazum was charged following his correspondence with these people, but he did not set a trial date.

Mr. Bazum's government has worked closely with the United States and the European Union in the fight against jihadist militants into the region and stem the flow of migrants heading north towards the Mediterranean.

The United States, France, Germany and Italy have stationed troops in the country, in a region where local al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates »killed thousands and resettled millions.