Overview
- Prosecutors placed former French national serviceman Guy Baret in pretrial detention at Tsiafahy prison on charges linked to a plan to cripple key power sites and incite unrest.
- Authorities say the operation was organized in a WhatsApp group called “tolom-piavotan’ny olom-banona” and included plans for April 18 power cuts, traffic disruption, and efforts to push security forces to rebel.
- A Malagasy army officer, Colonel Patrick Rakotomamonjy, was named as a suspect, with prosecutors also citing charges of spreading false information, harbouring wanted persons, and criminal conspiracy.
- Madagascar declared a French embassy agent persona non grata in connection with the probe, and France summoned Madagascar’s charge d’affaires in Paris while rejecting the accusations as unfounded.
- The investigation unfolds after a 2025 power shift that followed youth-led protests, with Madagascar’s deep ties to former colonial power France raising the stakes for both diplomacy and internal stability.