After an eventful first day, the Extraordinary African Chambers trying Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 in Dakar ordered late Monday afternoon that the former Chadian president be brought to court on Tuesday morning by \u201cpublic security forces\u201d. His lawyers denounced a \u201cmilitarization\u201d of the proceedings.<\/p>\n
Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9, in exile in Senegal since his ouster in 1990 and detained since July 2013 in a Dakar prison, is charged with crimes against humanity, genocide and torture perpetrated under his regime.<\/p>\n
The former president is on trial before the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC), a special court set up within the Senegalese justice system under an agreement between Dakar and the African Union (AU). It has a mandate to try serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Chad from 1982 to 1990.<\/p>\n
On Monday morning, before the prosecutor and judges entered the courtroom, Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 made an appearance that was brief but certainly did not go unnoticed. He had been brought by the prison authorities. The old orator, sporting a turban, seized the moment to get his voice heard. \u201cDown with imperialism! Long live Chad!\u201d\u00a0he cried. This chant was immediately taken up by young supporters present at court, leading security forces to remove the accused to another part of the courtroom complex.<\/p>\n
Once calm had been re-established, the prosecution team led by Chief Prosecutor Mback\u00e9 Fall entered the courtroom followed by the judges, headed by Gberdao Gustave Kam of Burkina Faso.<\/p>\n
The Prosecutor spoke first of the victims\u2019 20-year struggle, then stressed that this trial \u201cis not a relentless pursuit against the person of the Accused\u201d. Mback\u00e9 Fall claimed his case was based on \u201cin-depth investigations\u201d, and promised to prove beyond reasonable doubt the existence of \u201cboth civil and military chains of command\u201d linking the former president to the crimes of which he is accused.<\/p>\n
\u201cI invite him to appear to answer to History for these serious crimes of which he is accused,\u201d said the Prosecutor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Presiding Judge Kam then gave the floor to Chadian lawyer Jacqueline Moudeina, made famous over the past years by her long struggle in support of the victims. She accused Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 of having been, for more than a decade, \u201cthe executioner of his people, the orchestrator (of crimes committed by his services), giver of orders, instigator\u201d. But she also said the lawyers representing victims would be guided \u201conly by the force of the law\u201d.<\/p>\n
It had been planned that the Defence speak after the victims, but none of Habr\u00e9\u2019s lawyers were present in court.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Senegalese Bar Mbaye Gu\u00e8ye, who spoke next, said the chosen path of the Defence should not in any way impede the Accused\u2019s right to the presumption of innocence. \u201cYes to the fight against impunity,\u201d he said, but also reminded the Chamber of its obligation to guarantee a \u201cfair trial\u201d, whatever the chosen strategy of the Accused. \u201cYour decision will be appreciated by your fellow judges, by lawyers, by universities, by your descendants,\u201d he continued, urging the three judges to \u201crender good justice, although we know that perfection is not of this world\u201d.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the press after the inaugural ceremony, another Senegalese lawyer, Ousmane Seye, went further, saying that there was \u201ca taste of the unfinished\u201d. \u201cThe African Union has not given the African Chambers a mandate to judge Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9, it gave them a mandate to judge the facts, the crimes committed in Chad from 1982 to 1990. But these events implicate many people, some of whom are following this trial sitting comfortably in their armchairs in Chad,\u201d said the lawyer, mentioning by name the current Chadian president Idriss Deby. When asked about the trial continuing in the absence of the Accused, Seye replied\u00a0that that \u201cis his absolute right. Justice is not violence\u201d.<\/p>\n
After the morning break, the Chamber was informed that Habr\u00e9 was still refusing to attend the proceedings. Judge Kam then sent him a summons to appear at the afternoon hearing. But the former president had not changed his mind, leading the presiding judge to order that he be brought \u201cby public security forces\u201d to appear at Tuesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n
Speaking to JusticeInfo.Net in the court press room in Dakar, Fran\u00e7ois Serres,\u00a0one of Habr\u00e9\u2019s lawyers, denounced what he called \u201ca pathetic decision, a militarized decision\u201d. \u201cPresident Habr\u00e9 is being consistent. He cannot appear before judges who have already decided to convict him,\u201d said the French lawyer, denouncing what he called \u201ca real judicial farce\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After an eventful first day, the Extraordinary African Chambers trying Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9 in Dakar ordered late Monday afternoon that the former Chadian president be brought to court on Tuesday morning by \u201cpublic security forces\u201d. His lawyers denounced a \u201cmilitarization\u201d of the proceedings. Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9, in exile in Senegal since his ouster in 1990 and detained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":65558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2167],"class_list":["post-1341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mixed-tribunals","ji_location-chad"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n