The International Criminal Court on Wednesday convicted an al-Qaida-linked extremist leader of the religious persecution and torture of prisoners in Mali in 2012-13 when he headed the Islamic police in the historic desert city of Timbuktu.
The court found the 47-year old Malian was a key member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that held power at the time. “Al Hassan himself inflicted at least 34 and 37 lashes” on two male victims, the Congolese judge said. In Timbuktu, victims of Ansar Dine crimes were hoping for compensation, which would likely come only after sentencing. “We are waiting and hoping for a judgment that will give us justice,” said Yehia Hamma Cisse, president of a group of victims’ associations in the Timbuktu region.