World
C.African ex-leader Bozize implicated in opponent's disappearance, court hears
Former Central African Republic president Francois Bozize is being tried in absentia by the special court over alleged crimes against humanity committed between 2009 and 2013.
Former Central African Republic president Francois Bozize is being tried in absentia by the special court over alleged crimes against humanity committed between 2009 and 2013. (Credit: AFP)
By: AFP ., Journalist @New Vision
BANGUI — A UN-backed court in the Central African Republic has been told that ex-president Francois Bozize was implicated in the disappearance and presumed death of a former minister who became an opposition figure.
Bozize is being tried in absentia by the special court over alleged crimes against humanity committed between 2009 and 2013.
Questioned on Monday as a witness about the disappearance of Charles Massi, his former partner Hortense Balley Kombet directly implicated the ex-head of state, an AFP journalist saw.
Massi was a former minister in Bozize's administration who later opposed it and has been missing and presumed dead since 2010.
Balley Kombet told the court that Massi was reportedly arrested by Chadian authorities while planning to join an armed group that was active in the CAR at the time.
She said he was then exchanged for a Chadian rebel before being handed over to members of the Centrafrican presidential guard.
She told the judges that the former minister was subsequently tortured and killed.
Balley Kombet told the court that Massi was reportedly arrested by Chadian authorities while planning to join an armed group that was active in the CAR at the time.
She said he was then exchanged for a Chadian rebel before being handed over to members of the Centrafrican presidential guard.
She told the judges that the former minister was subsequently tortured and killed.
Bozize, 79, who seized power in a 2003 coup before being overthrown 10 years later by rebels, has been living in exile in Guinea-Bissau since 2023.
Three of his former senior military officers, Eugene Barret Ngaikosset, Vianney Semndiro and Firmin Junior Danboy, are also on trial.
The allegations against the four men relate to a civilian prison and a military training centre in the central town of Bossembele.
The case is being heard by the Special Criminal Court (SCC), a hybrid jurisdiction located in the capital Bangui with Centrafrican and foreign judges.
The SCC is in charge of investigating war crimes committed since 2003 in the CAR, which has endured a succession of civil wars and authoritarian rulers since independence from France in 1960.
Three of his former senior military officers, Eugene Barret Ngaikosset, Vianney Semndiro and Firmin Junior Danboy, are also on trial.
The allegations against the four men relate to a civilian prison and a military training centre in the central town of Bossembele.
The case is being heard by the Special Criminal Court (SCC), a hybrid jurisdiction located in the capital Bangui with Centrafrican and foreign judges.
The SCC is in charge of investigating war crimes committed since 2003 in the CAR, which has endured a succession of civil wars and authoritarian rulers since independence from France in 1960.