June 15, 2020 (Khartoum) An alleged Sudanese militia leader charged with more than 50 crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur conflict appeared Monday before a judge at the International Criminal Court ICC for the first time since his transfer to the court last week and said the charges against him were “untrue.”
Coronavirus restrictions meant that the suspect, Ali Mohammed Ali Abdul Rahman Ali, known as Ali Kushayb, appeared via a video link from the court’s detention center near The Hague’s North Sea coastline.
According to the ICC’s arrest warrant, Kushayb is accused of commanding thousands of Janjaweed militia back in 2003-2004 and acting as a go-between for the militia and Sudanese government. The ICC says
he “personally participated in some of the attacks against civilians” and allegedly “enlisted fighters, armed, funded and provided food and other supplies to the Janjaweed militia under his command.”
Among offenses listed on his arrest warrant are murder, rape, persecution and pillage. He initially was charged with 50 offenses, but judges subsequently added two new murder charges linked to the
alleged slaying of about 100 civilians in early March 2004 and a charge of inhumane acts committed around the same time. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.