Brahim Déby Itno ( ar, إبراهيم ديبي إتنو ', 6 June 1980 – 2 July 2007"Chad president's son died 'from asphyxiation'"
, AFP (''IOL''), 2 July 2007.) was the son of

Idriss Déby Idriss Déby Itno ' (18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the president of Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021. Déby was a member of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. A high-ranki ...

, the former

president of Chad This is a list of heads of state of Chad since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day. A total of six people have served as head of state of Chad (not counting two Interim Heads of State). Additionally, one pers ...

Personal life

Brahim attended the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

as a foreign exchange student and graduated in 2004 with a degree in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

. It is claimed that, in 2005, President Déby held a secret meeting in which he expressed his desire to have Brahim succeed him at some point; this reportedly caused a rift in the family. On 24 May 2006, Brahim Déby was arrested outside a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

nightclub after getting involved in a brawl. During the fight, an unlicensed

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...

fell from his pocket. Police later searched his house and found 375 grams of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

. On 3 June 2006, Brahim Déby was given a six-month suspended sentence for drugs and arms possession. He was subsequently sacked as an advisor to his father. Déby was found dead by a security guard in his apartment building's parking garage in

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is in the suburbs of the city of Paris, from the center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the city limits of Par ...

, a suburb of Paris, on 2 July 2007."Chad leader's son killed in Paris"
BBC News, 2 July 2007. Due to the apparently violent nature of his death, French authorities began investigating it as murder. An

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

indicated that Déby, who was covered in white powder, died due to

asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

, probably from the powder, which was thought to have been sprayed from a

fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...

found near his body. Déby had a wound on his head, but this was thought to be unrelated to his death. According to a lawyer for Déby's family on 17 July, Déby was attacked ten days after arriving in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from Chad; his father had advised him not to return to France due to his past legal issues there. Shortly prior to the attack, Déby was said to be very worried and had received a telephone call. He was attacked by four or five men disguised as policemen who waited for him to arrive at the parking garage. The attackers

taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...

ed Déby before killing him by spraying him with the fire extinguisher powder. They then searched his apartment for an unknown reason; it was speculated that the attackers might have been looking for money kept there by Déby. Déby's body was returned to Chad aboard a specially chartered flight on the morning of 4 July. He was buried at midday on the same day in the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

cemetery in Lamadji, to the north of

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are the ...

. The funeral was held privately but was nevertheless widely attended, with Déby's extended family, as well as government ministers and various political figures, present. Five arrests (four in Paris, one in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

) made in connection with Déby's death were reported on 28 November 2008. In 2011 four men were convicted of "robbery leading to death without intention to kill" and sentenced to prison sentences of between five and thirteen years; one man was acquitted. A further trial was held in 2013, after prosecutors protested the initial sentences as unduly lenient.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deby, Brahim 1980 births 2007 deaths Chadian people murdered abroad Deaths from asphyxiation People murdered in Paris University of Ottawa alumni 2007 murders in France 2000s murders in Paris July 2007 events in France