Maxime Mokom was transferred to the International Criminal Court on Monday from Chad where he was arrested at the end of February. This anti-balaka leader is being prosecuted for crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in 2013 and 2014 in the Central African Republic.
With our correspondent in The Hague, Stephanie Maupas
Maxime Mokom was the subject of a secret arrest warrant, issued against him by the ICC judges in December 2018. Three months later, he was appointed Minister of Disarmament, despite accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes, issued by the prosecutor.
The list of crimes he is suspected of is long: murder, extermination, forced population transfer, torture, persecution, enforced disappearances, mutilations, cruel treatment… and many more. According to the court statement, the anti-balaka allegedly carried out attacks against the Muslim civilian population, suspected of being accomplices of the Seleka. The Seleka which had overthrown President François Bozizé in 2013, of which Maxime Mokom is close.
He is the fourth Central African official placed behind the bars of the ICC. He finds in prison in particular Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, former political coordinator of the anti-Balakas, whose trial is still in progress before the ICC. The first appearance of Maxime Mokom before the judges of the Court should take place in the coming days.
►Also read: Central African Republic: former minister Maxime Mokom arrested by the Chadian secret services