By Hassan Abderamane

On Wednesday, 16 September 2026, the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, and Minister of Human Rights, Mrs Ndolenodji Alixe Naïmbaye, presided over the official ceremony for the collective remission of sentences for convicts at the Klessoum Remand and Correctional Centre, pursuant to Decree No. 2151/PR/2026.

The ceremony took place within the facility’s premises and was attended by the Public Prosecutor at the N’Djamena High Court, the President of the N’Djamena High Court, the Attorney General at the N’Djamena Court of Appeal, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice, as well as heads of the defence and security forces and civil society representatives.

In effect, 150 detainees were released under Decree No. 2151/PR/2026.

In her address, the Minister of Justice paid warm tribute to the Head of State who, for reasons of humanity and fairness, decided to grant his clemency to fellow citizens subject to final and enforceable criminal decisions. “Indeed, for the Marshal of Chad, every citizen deserves competent, swift, accessible and equitable justice,” she stated.

The Minister of Justice recalled that, stemming from sovereign magnanimity, the pardon is a regal privilege provided for in the constitution. It is often used by the President of the Republic in numerous circumstances in favour of thousands of convicts whose sentences are either fully remitted or substituted with lighter penalties. It is in this context, and always mindful of the fate of compatriots in conflict with the law, that Marshal Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Republic, Head of State, in his capacity as father of the nation, issued Decree No. 2151/2026 of 14 August 2026 on collective remission of sentences. The Minister welcomed this act, stating: “An act imbued with humanism and compassion, which we solemnly execute today, is of course more than an event; it is a high point where some of our fellow citizens with final ordinary-law convictions will benefit from a partial and staggered reduction of the quantum of their custodial sentences, or even release.”

The immediate application of the legal scale set by this regulatory text results in the automatic release of one hundred and fifty (150) detainees whose residual sentences are now fully served.

The Minister of Justice stressed that this decision meets the fundamental requirements of public policy on justice and prison administration in several respects. On the one hand, it stems from a affirmed desire for humane detention conditions and a pragmatic adjustment of sentence enforcement; on the other hand, this measure reflects targeted but positive clemency.

Ndolenodji Alixe Naïmbaye also recalled that this sentence measure applies exclusively to the criminal penalty of imprisonment and cannot erase the rights of the State, civil parties and third parties.

She then affirmed, on behalf of the government, the determination of her department to continue modernising justice institutions and consolidating the rule of law with the support of partners, whose constant commitment alongside them she also praised.

It should be recalled that during this ceremony, release certificates were handed to the now former detainees who benefited from this pardon under Decree No. 2151/PR/2026, marking a moment of joy and emotion before closing the ceremony with a group photo to immortalise this high point.