CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, an alleged former leader of the Seleka militia, pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity and war crimes at the start of his trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Prosecutors said Said “actively participated” in targeting certain ethnic groups and overseeing a detention facility in Bangui where inmates were assaulted and tortured after the mostly Muslim Seleka militia toppled former president François Bozizé, who himself had seized power in 2003, and seized power in Bangui in 2013 and 2014. “I have listened to everything and I am pleading not guilty,”
Said told the court.