Abdoulaye Hissène, former military leader of the FPRC, has been arrested and charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Central African Republic. Will this second big fish in the hands of the CPS stand trial this time?
The Special Criminal Court (SCC)’s mandate was renewed on December 28 by the parliament of the Central African Republic for five years, despite its meagre results. Since its creation in 2015, this UN-backed hybrid court has conducted only one trial. What lessons can be drawn from that first trial and several recent arrests, while new cases are reportedly about to be ready?
On October 31, the Bangui-based Special Criminal Court issued its first verdict. It found three former members of a Central African armed group guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2019. One of the convicts received a life sentence, while the other two got 20 years in prison.
The long-awaited first trial of a court established to prosecute war crimes in the Central African Republic’s drawn-out conflict has been postponed for the second time. “The lawyers for the defence and those for the civil parties have asked the court for a postponement because they feel that they are not ready,” Paul Yakola, a lawyer for one of the defendants, told the Africanews outlet on Monday.