Defense lawyers for a Malian Islamist rebel accused of war crimes told the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday that their client was a minor player in the rebel group that seized Timbuktu.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz’s defense attorney, Melinda Taylor, did not deny that her client was a member of the Ansar Dine Islamist group that ruled Timbuktu in 2012.
She portrayed him, however, as someone who was simply trying to keep the peace after the rebel takeover, rather than as someone who was involved in any of the crimes for which he was being tried.
Prosecutors told jurors on Tuesday that Al Hassan was the leader of an Islamic police force that committed rape, forced marriages, and sexual slavery against Timbuktu women.
Al Hassan has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Prosecutors and lawyers for the over 2,000 victims who are parties in the case described Al Hassan as “indispensable” to the Ansar Dine, while victims’ lawyers described him as a “cold-blooded monster” who participated in a “tyrannical regime.”
After seizing control of Timbuktu, Ansar Dine attempted to impose Sharia law.
Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters used pickaxes, shovels, and hammers to destroy centuries-old shrines and earthen tombs that reflected Timbuktu’s Sufi interpretation of Islam in the “City of the 333 Saints,” also known as Timbuktu.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been investigating the situation in Mali since 2012. The rebels were driven back the following year by French and Malian troops.
The court is expected to rule on Al Hassan’s case before the end of the year.
