ICC hears closing arguments in suspected CAR militia leader case

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday began presenting closing arguments against an alleged commander of a rebel group from Central African Republic.

Mahamat Said Abdel Kani is facing multiple counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes at the international tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.

He is accused of overseeing torture, persecution, and enforced disappearances at detention centres in the capital, Bangui, in 2013.

Said was allegedly part of the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels who seized power in that year from then-President Francois Bozize amid the country’s long-running civil war.

Their rule gave rise to opposing "anti-Balaka" Christian-dominated militias.

The ICC has been investigating the violence in the Central African Republic since May 2014 and has already convicted two "anti-Balaka" leaders.

Said is, however, the first alleged Seleka member on trial.

“Women, children, the elderly, and disabled people fell victim to the horrific acts of abuse and violence committed by the Seleka,” deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said.

He said documents and witness testimony during the trial showed that Said had complete control over the prison where inmates were arbitrarily detained and abused.

Niang added that Said had personally taken part in the abuse.

Said pleaded not guilty to all charges when the proceedings began, with his defence team saying the evidence against him was unreliable and insufficient to connect him to the crimes.

“The prosecution has built its case on a biased and sketchy narrative very far from the reality of what actually happened in the Central African Republic at the time,” lawyer Jennifer Naouri said in opening statements in 2022.

Said’s defence team will give their closing statements later this week. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.