ICC convicts two militia leaders of persecuting Muslims in Central African Republic
Judges said Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, a former football executive, and militia commander Alfred Yekatom helped to lead a campaign of violence against Muslim civilians and convicted them of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, torture, forcible transfer and persecution of Muslim civilians.
Both men pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial in 2021.
Judges ruled Ngaissona was a long-time leader of the mostly Christian militia forces known as "anti-Balaka". He was sentenced to 12 years.
Yekatom, nicknamed "Rambo", commanded some 3,000 militia members and praised members of his militia who committed atrocities, the court found. He received a 15-year prison sentence.
The anti-Balaka militia took up arms in 2013 in response to months of looting and killing by mostly Muslim Seleka rebels who had seized power in March the same year.
The ICC has been investigating the violence in the Central African Republic since May 2014. A trial of one Seleka leader is under way at the ICC.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Spade attack neighbour from hell: Mother-of-three, 44, who beat young man over head with shovel in bitter five-year feud with family next door
RAW VID - 3488293 A family who were subjected to a campaign of abuse by their neighbour before she launched a vicious spade attack are living in fear that she could return to 'finish the job she intended' after she was spared jail. Mother-of-three Catherine 'Cat' Lloyd, 44, pounced from behind her gate and smashed her victim over the top of the head in a narrow alleyway between their homes in a late-night attack his family say he was lucky to come out of alive. In new CCTV from the night obtained by the Daily Mail, she then smashes him over the head with a wooden bat with the help of her ex-boyfriend whom she had called over to join in. The horrifying double attack, caught on CCTV, followed a three-year campaign of abuse against the victim's grandparents-in-law in which she made 1am death threats, branded them 'paedophiles' and 'murderers' online and even threw bricks at them. Cambridgeshire Police said Lloyd struck her neighbour, in his 20s, over the head with a spade in Peterborough on May 14 2023 after a 'long-running dispute', leaving him with a large gash to the head which required hospital treatment. But his grandparents-in-law, who live next door to Lloyd, told the Daily Mail today: 'This is not a long-running dispute. It's not "she had a go, we had a go". There's no tennis involved. It's her just persecuting us for her own enjoyment. 'We were subjected to a hate campaign and we have no idea why. It's been hell, it's been purgatory. She's a calculated, scheming woman.' Lloyd - who has two young twin girls and a teenage boy - admitted grievous bodily harm without intent and was sentenced to 10 months in jail this week, but she has been released back onto the streets due to time she has served in custody. The terrified pensioners, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have now installed an iron gate in the passageway, explaining: 'We are having to safeguard ourselves from the possibility of an absolute nutjob coming back to finish the job that she intended.' Half an hour after the spade attack, Lloyd and her ex-partner, Aaron Hockey, attacked the victim again - this time with a wooden bat. Hockey first attacked the victim's mother and then turned on him when he came outside We can reveal today the 'dispute' stemmed from a random letter that Lloyd - who had been completely fine with them when she first moved in back in 2019 - put through their letterbox on May 27, 2020. In the strongly worded letter, Lloyd claimed her neighbours had left 'broken roof tiles' and 'tree trimmings' in her garden and threatened to report them to the police. The next day, the husband and wife unsuccessfully attempted to engage in a 'reasonable discussion' with Lloyd so instead wrote a letter back to her, which she refused to open. In the letter, they explained external contractors had completed work on their bathroom roof three months prior and all the old tiling had been removed with any debris swept up. They also attempted to call round to clear up the small amount of tree clippings that had fallen into Lloyd's garden but got no answer. 'Then all of a sudden she just turned,' the couple explained. 'To this day we don't know what reason, but that's when the abuse started. 'She was shouting at 1am in the morning that she was going to kill us. I was frightened of going out my front door.' Lloyd returned the sealed letter back to her neighbours, but wrote on top: 'Do anything to hurt or harm my children and I will go to the police!' 'From there on, we were called paedophiles, we were called murderers, you name it. We had to get cameras put in. She was shouting it over the fence. For nearly two years I didn't dare go out our back gate because she'd be there all the time waiting for me. 'We had the police out so many times and we told them she's like a ticking time bomb. You just don't know when she's going to kick off.' In social media posts seen by Daily Mail, Lloyd posted their faces and names online, calling them 'sex pests, child abusers and creepy ass stalkers'. When their grandson-in-law stuck up for them one day, Lloyd turned and 'suddenly hated him' as well, shouting abuse at him and issuing death threats. They explained: 'If she mouthed off, he would give her as much as back. That's what she didn't like. Our policy was to ignore her and it made it worse. His policy was you bite me, I'll bite you back. That made her worse too, you couldn't win.' In one terrifying moment in 2021, Lloyd allegedly pushed her pensioner neighbour off her bike, leaving her with bruises all over her arm. She was arrested but there was 'insufficient evidence' for her to be charged. In another, on July 17 2022, she threw bricks into the garden of the neighbours' granddaughter and husband while they were all having a barbeque. The Daily Mail has obtained a dossier of CCTV and photos which shows Lloyd's 'calculated' plot to attack the family. On April 18, 2023, a camera picked her up making a chilling threat, shouting: 'Do you have a preference? I've got a spade, I've got garden shears or I've got a rake.' Just three weeks later, on May 14, she stormed out her back gate at around 9.30pm and struck her victim over the head with a spade. The victim's grandmother-in-law, who saw the horror unfold before her eyes, said: 'He was bleeding a lot, it was so vicious.' Her partner added: 'She sprung up from behind the gate, she'd been waiting there with a spade in hand waiting for him to come back round. Then she's gone "there he is" and lunged at him with a spade. If that isn't with intent, what is? 'She hit him with the flat of the spade. If she'd hit him with the edge, he wouldn't be here. The lad would not be here now, guaranteed.' Police have only released footage of the spade attack, but the Mail can reveal how the violence did not stop there. Moments later, Lloyd rang up her ex-partner, the father of her children, who quickly arrived at the scene armed with a wooden baton. CCTV shows Aaron Hockey manhandling the victim's mother while he was inside recovering from his head wound. When he heard the commotion, he came outside and was smashed around the head by Hockey before Lloyd joined in. Hockey was handed a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, for possession of an offensive weapon, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray. In other CCTV obtained by the Daily Mail, Lloyd is seen putting her middle finger up at her neighbours' camera while her children walk in front of her, while in another she throws her parking ticket on the floor. 'To say she's got no respect for the law would be an understatement,' they said. The neighbours, who have lived in their house for 30 years, say they had 'never encountered' anyone like Lloyd before, adding: 'We weren't sure what she was capable of and that's the scary bit.' They added: 'She'd used this tenuous excuse that we were all paedophiles and after her children to exact violence and threats and assault us. 'It's a total fabrication. It's so degenerate, it's like she was provoking us and looking for a reaction. When she didn't get it, it made her worse. It's about the worst thing you can call a person, a paedophile.' Although Lloyd has finally been convicted two years later, they say it has brought 'no relief'. 'It's such a deflation that we've waited all this time, it's finally gone to court, we had all the evidence and we just think where's the justice in that? 'Until the bailiffs come round, she's still got the keys to the place. What's to stop her coming round? 'She's not even in prison anymore. There's a restraining order but that's not stopped her before. There's physically nothing to stop her running back again.' Lloyd's neighbour on the other side was more sympathetic to the situation, telling the Daily Mail: 'I feel sorry for her. She needs help. She was always very friendly and helpful. She would offer to do my shopping and made me a Christmas dinner. 'She's got lovely twins. 'We were good friends for quite a while but then she cut herself off. I think mental problems started getting to her. 'She was friendly, helpful, bright, she could be funny.' Lloyd was jailed for ten months on July 31 at Peterborough Crown Court after admitting grievous bodily harm without intent. But she was released from custody due to time spent on remand. DCI Lloyd Davis said: 'Catherine Lloyd's behaviour in this case was completely unacceptable. 'Irrespective of any ongoing dispute, violence like this is not the answer. I'm pleased the victim can now move on.'
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Prince Harry could face further action over claims of bullying and misogyny from leaders of African charity he set up
Prince Harry could face further action over claims of bullying and misogyny from the leaders of the African charity he set up. The Charity Commission yesterday revealed that after a bitter boardroom battle at Sentebale it had found 'no evidence of widespread or systematic bullying or harassment including misogyny or misogynoir'. But neither side was satisfied with the final adjudication, which criticised all parties involved, and, although the regulator urged all to be 'mindful to channel their belief in the charity's mission in a constructive and collaborative way', there seems little hope of the row going away. Both camps made serious claims of mismanagement and maladministration against the other. The current chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, accused the Duke of Sussex of waging a campaign of bullying 'at scale' against her. This was strongly denied. The watchdog acknowledged there was a 'strong perception' of ill-treatment by those involved but it could find no evidence of widespread bullying. However, it also confirmed it had no remit to investigate individual allegations. A spokesman for the prince declared this as a win, branding the claims as falsehoods. But those who run Sentebale, after Harry and other trustees resigned en masses in March following infighting, yesterday said such accusations 'can and may be dealt with through avenues more appropriate' than the Charity Commission, without elaborating. The regulator had been asked to investigate a dispute between the prince and its board of trustees on one side and Dr Chandauka on the other. Harry set up Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006 to work with disadvantaged young people in Lesotho and Botswana, with both men honouring their late mothers. The Commission criticised all parties as a result of its investigation into the 'damaging internal dispute'. It said the trustees' failure to resolve conflict internally 'severely impacted the charity's reputation and risked undermining public trust in charities'. In a statement, Sentebale said yesterday: 'The Charity Commission is explicitly clear, including in its public guidance, that it is not the Commission's responsibility to adjudicate or mediate internal disputes. 'This would include individual allegations of bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir [misogyny against black women] etc. 'As a result, the Commission has not investigated any individual allegations and therefore has not made any findings in relation to individuals, including Prince Harry. The issues not investigated by the Commission can and may be dealt with through avenues more appropriate than the Commission.' A source told the Daily Mail that a decision on whether to proceed would be taken by the Sentebale trustees and executive management, although their focus for now was on delivering help to clients. This drew a scathing response from sources close to the original board of trustees – many of whom are Harry's friends and supporters – who said it was 'provocative and 'pitiful' to 'rehash unsubstantiated allegations of bullying, misogyny and more, which the Commission found no evidence of'. The former board of trustees also issued a stinging statement rebuking the Charity Commission for choosing to 'ignore key concerns and irrefutable evidence' which they raised over the 'leadership and oversight' of Sentebale's chair. Sentebale, which has refuted the claims, said it welcomes the conclusion of the compliance case and the issuing of an action plan for the charity moving forward. It said it looked forward to a future 'free from interference' with confidence.
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Football hooligans to be sprayed with invisible DNA tagging mist so cops can find yobs even months later
FOOTBALL hooligans will be marked with a DNA tagging spray which will stick to unruly yobs for months - helping cops to combat anti-social behaviour at games. The cutting-edge SelectaDNA mist marks skin and clothing with an invisible liquid which will make it easier for cops to link misbehaving fans to crimes. 5 5 5 The spray can remain present for months on end - and its traces are revealed by shining UV light on it. Cheshire Constabulary, among other UK police forces, are rolling out the new technology in a bid to tackle rising reports of football fan disorder. They will use the spray at all League Two games in the region in attempt to stop increasing hooliganism kicking off at matches. The rollout follows a successful trial at Crewe Alexandra's home defeat to Port Vale in March. Crewe's opening home game of the season against Accrington Stanley on Saturday will be the first match to be policed with the new spray. It comes less than a month after alarming statistics showed an 18 per cent increase in the number of matches in which disorder was reported across England and Wales. Cops hope the tool will be a deterrent for anti-social behaviour at footy games. The extremely fine mist contains uniquely-coded DNA an does not cause damage to skin, clothing or machinery. But crucially, the firm behind it claim the solution is almost impossible to wash off - a key trait which will help catch offenders. The new tech will serve as a stark warning to yobs that those planning to cause trouble at games will be caught. SelectaDNA Intruder Spray kits will be introduced at a number of establishments nationwide as part of Operation Shield. The force-wide initiative aims to deter burglars and thieves from committing crimes. It is being led by Chief Superintendent Gareth Wrigley, who said: 'Here at Cheshire Constabulary, we're committed to doing all that we can to make the county a safer place for everyone, including football fans, and we'll use all the resources available to us to help achieve our goal. 'When it comes to football, we already have a number of measures in place to keep fans safe and the DNA tagging kits are just another tool in our belt." He continued: 'Starting from this weekend we'll be equipping our football officers with the spray whenever they are policing any League Two matches in the county. 'While we'd much prefer not to have to use the spray, if required the officers will be able to use it to tag any offenders, with a uniquely-coded but invisible DNA that will provide forensic evidence to link them to any offences." He said he hoped that the tool would give "reassurance" to local communities who face rising concerns over their safety during football games. SelectaDNA has also been used by police to combat theft in a range of industries across the UK, protecting things like farms, vehicles and cables from burglars. 5 5
