{"id":29441,"date":"2016-09-29T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T09:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html"},"modified":"2016-09-29T11:00:02","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T09:00:02","slug":"blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html","title":{"rendered":"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n             A US-Belgian businessman accused of enslavement and diamond trafficking during Sierra Leone's civil war has died in a Brussels prison, officials said on Thursday.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            Michel Desaedeleer, 65, \"died on Tuesday to Wednesday night, most likely of natural causes,\" a spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor's office told AFP.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            Desaedeleer was arrested in August 2015 at Malaga airport in southern Spain, attempting to reach the United States where he resided.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            He was soon transferred to Belgium where he had been scheduled to appear before a judge next week to request release on bail pending trial.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            Belgium sought his arrest following a complaint filed in Brussels in 2011 by five former diamond mine slaves.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            They detailed alleged crimes in Sierra Leone's eastern district of Kono between 1999 and 2001.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            \"Blood diamonds\" helped finance civil wars across Africa in the 1990s and often funded military dictatorships in the continent.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            Desaedeleer's name was mentioned in a United Nations report on the trade in 2000.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            It said he signed an agreement in 1999 with brutal Sierra Leone rebels allowing him to exploit diamond mines and ship the gems abroad via Liberia.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            The gems were sold mainly in Antwerp, Belgium's second-biggest city and the heart of the global diamond trade for several centuries.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            \"Sadly, the victims of slavery in the diamond mines in Sierra Leone's Kono district ... will never fully achieve justice,\" said Civitas Maxima, a Geneva-based organisation that gives legal advice to victims of war crimes and has helped build a case against Desaedeleer.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            \"Nevertheless, the arrest of Michel Desaedeleer, his imprisonment and the fact that his trial was scheduled to commence in a few months represent a victory for the victims who courageously filed a complaint against him,\" it added.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            Around 120,000 people died in Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A US-Belgian businessman accused of enslavement and diamond trafficking during Sierra Leone's civil war has died in a Brussels prison, officials said on Thursday. Michel Desaedeleer, 65, \"died on Tuesday to Wednesday night, most likely of natural causes,\" a spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor's office told AFP. Desaedeleer was arrested in August 2015 at Malaga [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-29441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Blood diamond&#039; suspect dies in Belgian prison - JusticeInfo.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;Blood diamond&#039; suspect dies in Belgian prison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A US-Belgian businessman accused of enslavement and diamond trafficking during Sierra Leone&#039;s civil war has died in a Brussels prison, officials said on Thursday. Michel Desaedeleer, 65, &quot;died on Tuesday to Wednesday night, most likely of natural causes,&quot; a spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor&#039;s office told AFP. Desaedeleer was arrested in August 2015 at Malaga [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JusticeInfo.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-29T09:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/JusticeInfoNet_logo_1200x630px.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AFP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AFP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"afp\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/713d340ef5f218fc36ce9b4244364a7f\"},\"headline\":\"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-29T09:00:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html\"},\"wordCount\":301,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"AFP News Feed\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html\",\"name\":\"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison - JusticeInfo.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-29T09:00:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"JusticeInfo.net\",\"description\":\"For justice to be done, it must be seen\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Justice Info\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"width\":1199,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Justice Info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"AFP\",\"url\":\"\/en\/?s=AFP\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison - JusticeInfo.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison","og_description":"A US-Belgian businessman accused of enslavement and diamond trafficking during Sierra Leone's civil war has died in a Brussels prison, officials said on Thursday. Michel Desaedeleer, 65, \"died on Tuesday to Wednesday night, most likely of natural causes,\" a spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor's office told AFP. Desaedeleer was arrested in August 2015 at Malaga [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html","og_site_name":"JusticeInfo.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","article_published_time":"2016-09-29T09:00:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/JusticeInfoNet_logo_1200x630px.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"AFP","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_site":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AFP","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html"},"author":{"name":"afp","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/713d340ef5f218fc36ce9b4244364a7f"},"headline":"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison","datePublished":"2016-09-29T09:00:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html"},"wordCount":301,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["AFP News Feed"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html","name":"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison - JusticeInfo.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-09-29T09:00:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/29441-blood-diamond-suspect-dies-in-belgian-prison.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"'Blood diamond' suspect dies in Belgian prison"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","name":"JusticeInfo.net","description":"For justice to be done, it must be seen","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization","name":"Justice Info","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","width":1199,"height":1200,"caption":"Justice Info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"AFP","url":"\/en\/?s=AFP"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29441"},{"taxonomy":"ji_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ji_location?post=29441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}