Nine months after a coup in Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, an ally of France and the U.S., remains locked in the presidential residence, cut off from contact with anyone but his doctor.
Held captive by his former security guards in an isolated wing of his house, the deposed president of Niger paces a bedroom with no direct daylight, cut off from the world and unable to talk to his lawyers, according to people with direct knowledge of the conditions of his detention.
Nine months since he was toppled in one of the coups that have recently wracked West Africa, Mohamed Bazoum is lingering in detention with no end in sight. The military junta that deposed him is seeking to strip him of presidential immunity, paving the way for him to be prosecuted on charges such as treason, for which the penalty could be life imprisonment, his lawyers said.
Trapped with his wife, Hadiza, and two domestic workers, he has no access to a phone and is not allowed to see his lawyers, other family members or friends, according to members of his inner circle who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the precariousness of the situation. His only visitor is a doctor, who brings him food once a week.
The once-loud calls for his release have grown quiet. Many of Mr. Bazoum’s closest allies — his cabinet members and advisers — have been thrown into jail or forced to flee Niger.
And some of Mr. Bazoum’s closest international partners are backing away. At the demand of the governing junta, the United States is preparing to withdraw about 1,000 troops stationed at an air base in the country’s desert. France, a longtime partner in the fight against extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, departed in December.
Instead, about 100 Russian military instructors arrived in the capital, Niamey, in April as Niger’s new leaders turned to Moscow for security assistance.