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Dakar — The trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre accused of overseeing the deaths of thousands had a chaotic beginning on Monday as security forces ushered the ex-leader into and then out of the Senegal courtroom amid protests by his supporters. Habre, who ruled in Chad from 1982-1990, is facing charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture before the Extraordinary African Chambers, a special tribunal created to try him in Senegal, in a major precedent for justice in Africa.
Lawyers for Habre said court officials took him to the courtroom to participate in the trial against his will. “This isn’t a trial, this is a masquerade!” said a white robed Habre soon after entering. “There is no trial. There are no lawyers. This is a false trial. Down with colonialism.” His supporters started shouting as well, prompting security officers to surround him and carry him out.Proceedings then began without him. One of his lawyers, Cire Cledor Ly, removed his legal robes in protest and took a seat in the courtroom.
Habre was first indicted by a Senegalese judge in 2000, according to Human Rights Watch, but twists and turns over a decade brought the case to Belgium, and then finally back to Senegal, where Habre fled after being overthrown in 1990. — AFP
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