Twenty-one people, including two Frenchmen, went on trial in Madagascar on Monday who was accused of a plot to stage a coup and assassinate President Andry Rajoelina.
Newsmen gathered that the defendants face charges ranging from criminal association to compromising state security and planning to kill the head of state. The alleged operation has been called the “Apollo 21” plot.
According to the prosecution team, the defendants “put together a plan to eliminate or neutralize various Malagasy public figures including the head of state.
The two Frenchmen are Paul Rafanoharana, 58, a dual French-Malagasy national who is a former advisor to the president, and Philippe Francois, 54, an ex-colonel in the French army, who ran an investment company in Madagascar.
A reporter at the scene said dozens of special forces and police officers lined the room’s faded yellow walls, and some were armed and in plainclothes.
Journalists were allowed to attend the public hearing, which defense lawyers said should last three or four days, although cameras have been banned.
