Hard labour sentence for ex-Senate president

Madagascar’s former Senate president Richard Ravalomanana has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labour after a court in Antananarivo convicted him of complicity in murder over last year’s deadly protests, report The Eastleigh Voice. The retired general and former ally of President Andry Rajoelina was also convicted of voluntary assault and battery in connection with the violence during demonstrations in September and October 2025. Ravalomanana denied the charges throughout the case, with his defence arguing that prosecutors had not shown that he personally ordered security forces to use violence against protesters. His lawyers, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, plan to appeal the conviction. The defence also relied on testimony from former national police chief Dany Marius Rakotozanany, who said Ravalomanana was not part of the operational chain of command during the protests. Marius told the court that the former Senate president had not ordered police or soldiers to act against demonstrators. However, prosecutors gave a different account, alleging that Ravalomanana used his influence within the gendarmerie, a military force responsible for policing and maintaining internal security, to direct the security response. They accused him of ordering violent action to suppress the demonstrations and presented written orders and radio recordings as evidence.