Maxime Mokom was transferred Monday to the International Criminal Court from Chad, where he was arrested in late February. This anti-balaka leader is being prosecuted for crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in 2013 and 2014 in the Central African Republic.
Maxime Mokom was the subject of a secret arrest warrant issued against him by ICC judges in December 2018. Three months later, he had been appointed Minister of Disarmament, despite accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes, issued by the prosecutor.
The list of crimes of which he is suspected is long: murder, extermination, forced transfer of population, torture, persecution, enforced disappearances, mutilation, cruel treatment … and many others. According to the Court’s communiqué, the anti-balaka carried out attacks against the Muslim civilian population, suspected of being accomplices of the Seleka. The Seleka, which overthrew President François Bozizé in 2013, of which Maxime Mokom is a close associate.
He is the fourth Central African official to be placed behind bars by the ICC. He joins Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, former political coordinator of the anti-Balakas, whose trial is still ongoing at the ICC. Maxime Mokom’s first appearance before the court’s judges is expected to take place in the coming days.