Prosecutors charged a former commander of the “Seleka” faction in the Central African Republic with war crimes and crimes against humanity, which were affirmed by judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday.
The ruling clears the way for Mahamat Said Abdel Kain’s case to proceed to trial. Said’s lawyers have stated that they will establish he is innocent after he was imprisoned and sent to The Hague in January.
According to an ICC statement, judges found “sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Said was a senior member of the Seleka coalition and is criminally responsible” for crimes such as torture of prisoners between April 12 and August 30, 2013, while working at the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry in the capital Bangui.
Since a group of primarily northern and predominantly Muslim rebels known as Seleka, or “alliance” in the Sango language, seized control in March 2013, the Central African Republic has been engulfed in turmoil. The opposition “anti-balaka” Christian militias arose as a result of their ruthless reign, and several of their former commanders are now facing indictments at the ICC.
