The protests began a twelvemonth ago, initially sparked by choler implicit persistent powerfulness and h2o shortages, earlier processing into a broader question against Rajoelina's government.
At slightest 22 radical were killed and much than 100 injured during the unrest, according to UN figures cited by section media.
The protests yet triggered a governmental situation that led to Rajoelina's removal from powerfulness and the installation of a caller medication led by Col Michael Randrianirina.
The crackdown was led by the gendarmerie, wherever Ravalomanana retained sizeable power astatine the time.
He "directed convulsive actions to suppress the demonstrations", a authorities authoritative said successful December 2025.
Ravalomanana was removed arsenic Senate president successful October, soon aft the protests, and was arrested astatine his location successful December aft failing to respond to a summons from the gendarmerie.
He was aboriginal placed successful pre-trial detention astatine the high-security Imerintsiatosika situation extracurricular Antananarivo, wherever helium has spent the past 7 months.
He is among respective elder figures associated with Rajoelina's erstwhile authorities who person faced ineligible proceedings since the alteration of power. Ravalomanana is besides facing a abstracted corruption investigation.
A erstwhile nationalist constabulary main who testified astatine the proceedings backed his account, saying Ravalomanana was not portion of the operational concatenation of bid and had issued nary orders to police, gendarmes oregon soldiers deployed during the unrest.
His lawyer questioned the grounds linking him straight to the violence.
"Is determination confirmed written oregon verbal evidence... to impeach him?" helium asked the court, arguing that prosecutors had failed to nutrient impervious that information officers had received orders from his client.
Ravalomanana's defence squad said it would situation the verdict successful a higher court.
The tribunal dropped a abstracted allegation of making a decease menace aft ruling that the lawsuit was excessively aged to prosecute.
Known for wearing a cowboy chapeau and displaying his subject medals, Ravalomanana was viewed by protesters arsenic a awesome of authoritarian power.
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