Brahim Déby Itno ( ', 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 sixth List of heads of state of Chad, president of Chad from 1991 until his death in 2021 during the 2021 Northern Chad offensive, No ...

, the former

president of Chad This is a list of presidents of Chad since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day. A total of eight people have served as head of state of Chad, including two interim heads of state. Additionally, Goukouni Ouedd ...

Personal life

Brahim attended the

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

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. 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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

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

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. 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 Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

, 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 (also referred to as 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 deat ...

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 all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are ...

, 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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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 Taser (stylized in all caps) is a line of handheld conducted energy devices (CED) sold by Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International). The device fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the targe ...

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

cemetery in Lamadji, to the north of

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

. 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 is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) 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 in France Zaghawa people Children of presidents