A former guardian of ousted Central African President François Bozizé, in power from 2003 to 2013, was indicted Friday evening in Paris, in particular for "complicity in crimes against humanity" and "complicity in war crimes" , then imprisoned, said the national anti-terrorism prosecution (Pnat) on Saturday.
Arrested Tuesday in eastern France, Eric Danboy Bagale, a 41-year-old Central African, was also indicted for "acts of torture" and "criminal association with a view to preparing for a war crime" for acts committed between 2007 and 2014 "as head of the presidential guard […] then as head of anti-balaka militias," Pnat said in a statement.
Eric Danboy Bagale was arrested and taken into custody Tuesday by the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes Against Humanity, Genocides and War Crimes (OCLCHGCG) and the Besançon gendarmerie research section.
This arrest was ordered by the “crimes against humanity” pole of the Pnat, as part of an investigation opened in May 2017 and now entrusted to specialized investigating judges from the Paris court.
Many massacres
The name of Eric Danboy Bagale appeared among the “Liberators”, the name given to the comrades in arms of General Bozizé who brought him to power in 2003 by overthrowing President Ange-Félix Patassé.
A member of the Gbaya ethnic group, like François Bozizé, the officer had become a senior official within the anti-balaka militias.
These armed groups were formed to fight the Seleka militias, an alliance of rebels from the predominantly Muslim north of the country, who ousted President Bozizé from power in 2013.
The numerous massacres perpetrated by the two camps plunged this country, among the poorest in Africa, into the third civil war in its history.
According to the UN, which accused the two coalitions of war crimes, between 3,000 and 6,000 people perished, mostly civilians, between 2013 and 2015.
First procedure for this country
At the end of 2014, France and Monaco had frozen the assets of Eric Danboy Bagale and Jean-Francis Bozizé, the son of the former president, accusing them of working "for the destabilization of the Central African Republic" and of trying "to commit an act of terrorism ”.
"This is the first indictment in a procedure initiated by the Pnat concerning acts committed in the Central African Republic," the statement said.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
French justice has taken up this case under universal jurisdiction which authorizes it to prosecute suspects of war crimes or crimes against humanity if they pass or reside on French territory.
In 2019, around 150 legal proceedings were conducted by this specialized center of the Paris court, concerning abuses committed in particular in Rwanda, the DRC, Syria, Iraq and Libya.
