The Special Criminal Court (SCC) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) both want to try Edmond Beina. But these two courts, based respectively in Bangui and The Hague, have started a standoff to know who will judge this anti-balaka leader. Prosecuted for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in 2014 in Guen, in the southwest of the Central African Republic, he is currently incarcerated in Bangui.
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With our correspondent in The Hague, Stephanie Maupas
Edmond Beina was arrested in June and is currently incarcerated in Bangui. In a request made public on Friday, November 15, the Minister of Justice of the Central African Republic asked the judges of the ICC to let the CPS – a Court created by the Central African government and the UN – continue the proceedings in Bangui.
“ Central Africa has the capacity and political will to organize the trial at home, before the Special Criminal Court », This is in substance what the Minister of Justice pleads in his request.
The two Courts now find themselves in competition, even if they have cooperated rather fluidly on this issue since 2019.
If the ICC today requests the execution of the arrest warrant against Edmond Beina, several elements could argue in favor of the CPS. Speed, first of all, because the case should soon be referred to the Assize Chamber. Then consistency, because in Bangui, Edmond Beina will be tried with four other Central Africans who were under his orders at the time of the alleged crimes. And finally common sense, because the majority of witnesses are in the Central African Republic.
But according to the texts, it is the judges of the ICC who will have to decide. For the moment, prosecutor Karim Khan has not yet responded to the Minister of Justice’s request.
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