AU orders court to try former Chadian president: official

The African Union (AU) has ordered a court sitting in Senegal to try former Chadian President Hissene Habre for alleged crimes against humanity committed during his presidency between 1982 and 1990, an AU official said on Friday.

This is seen as an unprecedented move by the AU to set up an "African court" to try African leaders accused anti-humanity crimes.

If the trial is successful, the model could be used as a way to punish African leaders instead of sending them to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, said Vincent Nmehielle, AU Commission Director of Legal Counsel, at a press briefing on the sidelines of the 25th AU summit in Johannesburg.

"Habre's issue has been in the African Union for quite some time, following what is believed to be atrocities committed during his era as President. This is significant for us, for the first time the AU is involved in the trying of a former Head of State," Nmehielle said.

Habre's trial, set to begin in July, will be heard by a three- member panel, two Senegalese judges and a foreign lead judge from another African Union member state.

Habre will be the first former Head of State to be tried in an ad hoc court that has been set up by Senegal and the AU after his arrest in 2013.

He was accused of killing and torturing tens of thousands of his opponents during his tenure, but he denies the charges. Habre fled to Senegal after being overthrown in 1990.

In 2012, the UN's International Court of Justice ordered Senegal to put him on trial or extradite him to face justice in Belgium where three of his alleged victims had laid charges. Endi