Chad's former Prime Minister and opposition leader, Succes Masra, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of disseminating racist and xenophobic messages that incited violence, his lawyer told Reuters on Saturday.

Masra is a staunch opponent of President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who nonetheless served as prime minister in Deby's interim government for about five months before running against him in a May 2024 election.

Chad's prosecutor launched an investigation against him in May in relation to a clash in which dozens were killed in the southern town of Mandakao that month.

In addition to 20 years in prison, Masra was ordered to pay a fine of 1 billion CFA francs ($1.8 million), said Kadjilembaye Francis, one of his lawyers.

The lawyer said his team planned to appeal.