International Criminal Court convicts Central African militia leader
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Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, a former alleged Seleka commander, attends a ruling in his case at the International Criminal Court, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Bangui in 2013, in The Hague, Netherlands
By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Judges at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday convicted a former Seleka militia leader from the Central African Republic of crimes against humanity including torture.
Prosecutors accused Mahamat Said Abdel Kani of running a prison where suspected supporters of then-President Francois Bozize were beaten and tortured. He denied all charges.
Presiding judge Miatta Maria Samba said that Said and others oversaw beatings and torture of prisoners as part of a plan to target perceived Bozize supporters in the capital Bangui.
He was found guilty on four counts of crimes against humanity including persecution and torture. The judges dismissed several war crimes charges, finding that at the time the alleged crimes were committed the armed conflict had already ended.
Said, dressed in jeans and a blue sweatshirt, gave no reaction as the verdict was read out.
A separate hearing will determine his sentence.
The predominantly Muslim rebels known as Seleka, or "alliance" in the Sango language, seized power in 2013 as part of the Central African Republic's long-running civil war, ousting Bozize. Their rule gave rise to opposing "anti-Balaka" Christian-dominated militias.
The ICC has been investigating the violence in the Central African Republic since 2014. It has convicted two "anti-Balaka" leaders, but Said is the first Seleka member to be convicted.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, Editing by Bart Meijer and Andrew Cawthorne)
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