Al Hassan was convicted of torture, rape and destruction of religious buildings.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted a leader linked to Al-Qaeda for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Mali, during an alleged reign of terror between 2012 and 2013 in the city of Timbuktu.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, 46, was convicted Wednesday on charges of torture, rape and sexual slavery, as well as destruction of religious and historical buildings.
He faces life imprisonment when a sentence is handed down later.
Prosecutors said Al Hassan was a key member of Ansar al-Din, an al-Qaeda-linked group that was in power in northern Mali in 2012.
He was accused of personally supervising amputations and floggings while serving as police chief during the period when Ansar al-Din, working with Mali’s main Tuareg rebel group, took control of Timbuktu during almost a year.
Defense lawyer Melinda Taylor told judges that Al Hassan was a member of the Islamic police who was “obligated” to respect and carry out the decisions of the Islamic court.
“This is what police around the world are doing,” she said.
However, during the trial, which opened in 2020According to prosecutors, citizens of Timbuktu lived in fear of “despicable” violence during Al Hassan’s era.
Women and girls particularly suffered under Ansar al-Din’s rule, risking corporal punishment and imprisonment, Fatou Bensouda, the court’s then-chief prosecutor, said at the start of Al Hassan’s trial there is almost four years old.
Al Hassan is accused of forcing women and girls to “marry” fighters, with some victims repeatedly raped, according to prosecutors, who said he was “personally involved” in the flogging of accused women of adultery.
In Timbuktu, the victims of Ansar al-Din’s crimes are awaiting possible compensation.
“We are waiting and hoping for a judgment that will do us justice,” said Yehia Hamma Cissé, president of a group of victims’ associations in the Timbuktu region.
Al Hassan is the second Malian leader tried by the ICC for destroying religious shrines in Timbuktu, among other crimes. Timbuktu is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Hague court sentenced Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi in 2016 to nine years in prison, reduced by two years on appeal in 2021.
