ICC trial starts for alleged jihadist crimes in Timbuktu

Prosecutors say Ansar Dine imposed a brutal regime on Timbuktu residents including public floggings, amputations and forced marriages. “Al Hassan is alleged to have exercised powers and functions on a daily basis within the Islamic police,” said Presiding Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua.

The trial of an alleged Islamic extremist charged with policing a brutal Islamic regime in Timbuktu after al-Qaida linked rebels overran the historic Malian desert city in 2012 opened Tuesday at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, who sat in court wearing a face mask and white headscarf, is charged with involvement in crimes including rape, torture, enforced marriages, and sexual slavery from April 2012 until the end of January 2013.

Al Hassan did not immediately enter a plea as the trial started before going into a closed session so judges could read out all the allegations without putting victims at risk by having their identities read in open court. Al Hassan allegedly was a key member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that held power in northern Mali at the time. Prosecutors say Ansar Dine imposed a brutal regime on Timbuktu residents including public floggings, amputations, and forced marriages.

“Al Hassan is alleged to have exercised powers and functions on a daily basis within the Islamic police,” said Presiding Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua. A French-led military operation in 2013 forced Al Hassan and others from power, though elements have continued to stage numerous attacks on Malian and international forces.

The trial opened against a backdrop of political tensions in Mali following contested legislative elections. On Sunday, protesters ransacked a building belonging to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's political party. The trial is the second case at the ICC linked to Ansar Dine's brutal occupation of Timbuktu. A member of the group, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for attacking nine mausoleums and a mosque door in the city in 2012. At previous hearings, Al Mahdi pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his role in leading the destruction. 

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