The year of the fugitive …

As the planet’s annus horribilis draws to a close, Legalbrief reflects on a major development that has, for the most part, been overshadowed by the marching microbe. Over the past 12 months, several prominent former African heads of state, alleged genocide perpetrators, clerics and other suspected criminals have been snared around the world. Foreign authorities have worked closely with their African counterparts to ensure that many of these suspects will have their day in court. The most notable was Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan war crimes suspect who was arrested after decades on the run and charged with helping to orchestrate the country’s 1994 genocide. Kabuga, who arrived at a Paris court in a wheelchair last month, did not respond to the charges before the UN’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, but the presiding judge deemed his silence as not guilty pleas. The 85-year-old faces multiple charges, including complicity in genocide and persecution. He is accused of using a radio station he ran to urge ethnic Hutus to kill Tutsis.

A former Liberian rebel commander is on trial in Switzerland over alleged atrocities committed during the country's long-running civil war. Alieu Kosiah is accused of murder, rape, recruiting child soldiers and a host of other crimes. The former rebel commander, who fled to Switzerland before being arrested there in 2014, denies the charges. BBC News reports that the trial is the first under a 2011 law that allows prosecution for war crimes committed anywhere in the world. It also marks the first time war crimes charges have been heard by a Swiss civilian court. Switzerland recognises the principle of universal justice. The hearings, scheduled to run until 11 December, intend to deal with pre-trial legal issues. The testimonies of witnesses and Kosiah’s plea is expected to take place in February. Based on the testimonies of victims of the Liberian conflict who filed a complaint in Switzerland, the Swiss Public Prosecutor's Office accuses him of having ‘committed himself or ... ordered his troops to commit during the years 1993 to 1995, in Lofa County, in particular the murder of civilians, rape and acts aimed at enslaving and terrorising the population’. Justice Info notes that his lawyer, Dimitri Gianoli, does not deny his involvement as in the Liberian conflict, but he excludes any involvement of his client in war crimes. No Liberian has ever been convicted of crimes committed during the conflict. The country's former leader Charles Taylor was, however, convicted in 2012 of committing war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

In other developments, former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, who was forced from power after losing elections a decade ago plans to return home this month. That’s according to his attorney, Habiba Toure, who said he has received two passports, ‘an ordinary one and a diplomatic one’. Gbagbo, who is in Brussels pending the outcome of proceedings against him at the International Criminal Court (ICC), has asked Assoa Adou, the secretary general of his Ivorian Popular Front party, ‘to approach the appropriate authorities in order to organise his return in tranquility’. The 75-year-old was brought before the ICC in 2011 to face charges of crimes against humanity arising from a civil war sparked by his refusal to accept electoral defeat. A report on the News24 site notes that he was acquitted in January 2019, but is awaiting the outcome of an appeal.

The CAR’s Constitutional Court has ruled that former President François Bozizé cannot run for election in the 27 December poll. BBC News reports that the court barred him as he is facing allegations of murder and torture and has had UN sanctions slapped on him. He served as President for a decade until 2013, when his overthrow precipitated years of violent chaos. Bozizé was seen as the main electoral rival to current President Faustin-Archange Touadera.

In another high-profile and current case, prosecutors seeking to extradite Shepherd Bushiri have told the Malawi Government of a raft of further charges the self-styled prophet faces, including the alleged rape of girls as young as 16 and contravention of the Suppression of Witchcraft Act. Sources close to the extradition process reportedly told the Sunday Times that besides charges of fraud, theft, racketeering and money-laundering, Bushiri, who fled SA three weeks ago with his wife Mary, is also wanted in connection with eight complaints of rape by young women who allege he groomed them with money and attention, and threatened them afterwards. These complaints are listed in SA's extradition request, which includes an affidavit by the North Gauteng DPP, Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi who rejects the Bushiris' claims that the charges are motivated by prejudice and that they would not receive a fair trial in SA. Shepherd Bushiri's Malawian lawyer, Wapona Kita, declined to comment on the new allegations. Malawian authorities confirmed on Friday that they had received the extradition request, which SA says was ready for delivery on 26 November. Some of the charges the Bushiris face individually carry sentences of up to 30 years in prison or fines of up to R100m.