MADAGASCAR. DEATH SENTENCE FOR 12

twelve people were sentenced to death in Madagascar over deadly clashes last year between police and residents refusing to be removed from land they had occupied, a court official said.
Ninety-one people were charged in the case, with six receiving 12 years of hard labour at the court in Miarinarivo, the official said. One person received a five-year suspended sentence, while another was given one year in prison. The others were acquitted.
In August 2006, residents of Ankorondrano clashed with authorities attempting to remove them from land they had occupied for several years. This resulted in the deaths of two police officers and one resident.