The court of the West African bloc, ECOWAS, decided on Friday that Niger’s overthrown president, Mohamed Bazoum, be released immediately from jail, where he has been held since a July 26 coup.
According to the judge in the case hearing in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, the court ordered his “immediate and unconditional release” and that Bazoum be restored.
Niger’s membership in the Economic Community of West African States is now suspended. Other member states have already defied ECOWAS court rulings.
“It is Mohamed Bazoum who represents the state of Niger… he remains president of the republic,” the court ruling said.
“There are constitutional rights that have been violated.”
Bazoum has been held in his presidential residence with his wife and their son since he was overthrown.
In mid-September, the deposed president appealed to the ECOWAS Court of Justice to obtain his release and the restoration of constitutional order in the country.