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ICC
The former police chief was handed over to the ICC by the Malian authorities in 2018
The former chief of the Islamic police in Timbuktu was part of a “reign of terror” in Mali city in 2012, prosecutors in The Hague say.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoude’s lawyers argued that he was not mentally fit to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) where he refused to make a guilty plea.
He was a member of an Islamist militant group that imposed strict Islamic law.
The charges against him include torture and sexual slavery.
He is also accused of directing attacks on historical monuments, including ancient manuscripts and buildings dedicated to Islam, which the militants considered idolatrous.
Al Hassan was handed over to the ICC in 2018 by Malian authorities, five years after French troops helped free Timbuktu from jihadists.
‘Women without gloves were flogged’
He is accused of being a key member of Ansar Dine, the militants who occupied Timbuktu in May 2012, one of several Islamist groups that exploited a Tuareg ethnic uprising at the time of taking over cities in northern Mali.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the court that Ansar Dine’s control and dominance of the city “was total.”
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Reuters
The graves at the Djingareyber mosque in Timbuktu were destroyed by Islamist militants in 2012
She described Timbuktu under her rule as a place where “everything was forbidden.”
Women could be punished on the spot for breaking the rules, such as not wearing gloves at the market, she said.
Al Hassan is accused of involvement in forcing girls and women to marry militants.
Many Muslim shrines were also destroyed during the Ansar Dine government, which lasted until January 2013, when 4,000 French troops were deployed to help the Malian army fight against militants pushing south.
Timbuktu is famous for its distinctive clay and wood architecture. It was an Islamic learning center between the 13th and 17th centuries and was added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 1988.
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But Islamists consider the city’s ancient shrines and manuscripts, which cover everything from history to astronomy, to be idolaters.
However, some Muslims, especially Sufis, consider them an accepted part of Muslim worship.
Al Hassan is only the second person to be tried in court for his actions during the devastating war in Mali.
The other man, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, pleaded guilty in 2016 to destroying nine mausoleums and a mosque, in the first case of cultural desecration heard by the ICC.
He was imprisoned for nine years, after declaring that he “greatly regretted” his actions and asked for forgiveness.
In 2017, ICC judges found him responsible for nearly € 3 million (£ 2.6 million; $ 3.6 million) in damages.
