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| - Here are key dates since Togo's independence from France 60 years ago. The West African nation has been run for more than half a century by the Gnassingbe dynasty. Togo proclaims independence from France on April 27, 1960. Its first president, Sylvanus Olympio, is killed in January 1963 in a coup led by Gnassingbe Eyadema, a soldier. In May ex-prime minister Nicolas Grunitzky is elected president. In January 1967 Eyadema -- now a colonel -- overthrows Grunitzky and seizes power. In April he begins a 38-year stint as president, also taking the post of defence minister. He is internationally criticised for repression and promoting a personality cult. Social and political unrest erupts in October 1990 after the army disperses a pro-opposition rally. Several hundred people die. Pressure for democracy leads to a national conference in August 1991 at which Eyadema's regime is accused of torture and killings. A political transition begins. However Eyadema soon reclaims presidential authority with military backing. In August 1993 he returns to power in elections boycotted by the opposition. Eyadema is re-elected in disputed June 1998 polls and claims to win elections five years later, after the constitution is modified to end limits on presidential terms. Eyadema dies in February 2005, aged 69. The military immediately hands power to one of his sons, Faure Gnassingbe, 38 years old and a government minister. The move is internationally condemned and Gnassingbe steps down. But he wins April presidential elections which are tainted by violence in which 400-500 die, according to the United Nations. He is re-elected in 2010, as the opposition protests. In November-December 2014, thousands demonstrate in the capital to demand a limit on presidential terms. Gnassingbe rules out any change and is re-elected in April 2015, with the opposition again objecting. Over 2017 and 2018 thousands of people attend a series of protests against Gnassingbe's grip on power. The demonstrations are severely repressed and around 15 protesters are killed. In May 2019 the constitution is amended to allow only two presidential terms. Gnassingbe has permission to contest the next two presidential elections, set for 2020 and 2025. The changes also granted him lifelong immunity against prosecution "for acts committed during presidential mandates". In August, parliament tightens laws on demonstrations for "security reasons" and "terrorist threats". On February 22, 2020 Gnassingbe wins a fourth term. He takes more than 70 percent of the vote in the first round. The result is disputed by his rival, opposition leader and former prime minister Agbeyome Kodjo, whose petition is rejected by the Constitutional Court. On April 1, Gnassingbe declares a state of emergency aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus. On April 21, Kodjo, stripped of parliamentary immunity in March after he declared himself Togo's legitimate president, is arrested, and released on probation three days later. acm-ang/jmy/ach
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