The judges of the Special Criminal Court are now complete. This hybrid jurisdiction composed of national and international magistrates has been responsible for trying the most serious crimes committed in the country since 2003. The last two judges of the appeal chamber, the French Olivier Beauvallet and the German Volker Nerlich were sworn in on Wednesday February 2 in Bangui before President Touadéra.
With our correspondent in Bangui, Carol Valade
This is the last stone in the building of a project started in 2015. Six and a half years later the CPS is finally complete. The last two judges take an oath before the Head of State.
But the task will not be easy. Last November, former warlord-turned-minister Hassan Bouba was arrested by the CPS, charged with “war crimes and crimes against humanity”. He was, to everyone’s surprise, released by the authorities less than a week later despite a warrant of committal and then decorated with the Order of Merit.
” It is not because of a single incident of this kind that one can question the credibility of a jurisdiction, insists Michel Luanga president of the CPS. It’s behind us, we’re moving forward, we have a lot to do. »
But moving forward is not giving up, specifies the Central African magistrate. ” This file is not yet closed, we are continuing to carry out investigations in this file so I think that we must always have confidence in this court which, in a few years, will try to respond to the problem of impunity in this country. »
“ 2022 is a pivotal year, that of judgments “, promises the President of the Court. The first-ever CPS trial is announced for the first quarter.