Hissene Habre’s lawyer has called for his immediate release on Monday, two weeks after the former Chadian leader was sentenced to life in prison in Senegal.
According to Hissene Habre’s lawyer, the Senegalese judge Amady Diouf does not fulfil the conditions to be among the college of judges to handle the case.
“He [Amady Diouf] has never worked as a judge and therefore could not be designated as judge in the Extraordinary African Chambers. He served as technical adviser of Sidiki Kaba who chose him in total violation of the statutes,” Habres’s lawyer Barrister Ibrahima Diawara, told reporters.
In his words, “considering those irregularities and the consequences being the invalidity of the court decisions, we consider that President Hissene Habre has been arbitrarily detained.”
Chad’s ex-ruler Hissene Habre has been convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison at a landmark trial in Senegal earlier this month.
The judge convicted him of rape, sexual slavery and ordering killings during his rule from 1982 to 1990.
It was the first time an African Union-backed court had tried a former ruler for human rights abuses.
Habre, who received strong backing from the US while in power, has been given 15 days to appeal.