Abdoulaye Miskine jailed for 15 years in Chad, lawyers say

Lawyers for Abdoulaye Miskine said a court in Chad sentenced the former Central African Republic rebel leader to 15 years in prison on Wednesday on charges including murder, rape and torture.

Miskine, a self-proclaimed “general”, led the Democratic Front of the Central African People, which he founded in 2004 when the Central African Republic first plunged into civil war. He was arrested in Chad in 2019 and held in N'Djamena while awaiting trial over alleged offences said to have taken place between 2002 and 2003 in border areas between Chad and the Central African Republic.

He was accused of creating an insurgent movement, as well as murder, rape, torture and unlawful detention. Two co-defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Miskine was ordered to pay 30 million CFA francs, about $50,000, to each victim's family. Twenty-nine people joined the trial as civil parties.

Benjamin Mamgo Dibaye, one of Miskine's lawyers, called the sentence “unjust, heavy and severe”.

Miskine later joined a coalition of mainly Muslim militias that overthrew Central African Republic president Francois Bozize in 2013, prompting French military intervention. A 2019 peace agreement between the Central African Republic government and rebel groups saw fighting abate, and the security situation has improved.