The International Criminal Court has found Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, the former head of the Central African Republic’s football federation, guilty of 28 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Alongside him, former militia commander Alfred Yekatom, widely known as Rambo, was also convicted. The two were accused of leading brutal attacks against the Muslim population in the Central African Republic between 2013 and 2014.
Yekatom was found guilty of 20 charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Ngaïssona received a 12 year sentence.
Their trial, which lasted for nearly four years, saw over 170 witnesses testify and more than 20,000 pieces of evidence submitted.Both men were leaders of the anti-Balaka militias, primarily Christian fighters who rose up in response to the Muslim Séléka rebels’ takeover in 2013, which led to the ousting of President François Bozizé.
According to prosecutors, Ngaïssona played a major role in funding and coordinating the militia’s operations, while Yekatom led deadly assaults on civilians in Bangui on December 5, 2013. That day alone, over 1,000 people were killed, and nearly half the capital’s population was forced to flee.
Victims suffered horrible abuse, many were tortured, buried alive, or targeted simply for being Muslim.
Both Ngaïssona and Yekatom denied all charges.
The verdict comes at a time when the Central African Republic is showing signs of progress toward peace, with two major rebel factions disbanding earlier this month.
