Hissène Habré "will return to prison" after the pandemic, assures the Senegalese president

Senegalese President Macky Sall says former Chadian head of state Hissène Habré will " return to prison " after the coronavirus epidemic to serve his sentence for crimes against humanity, after his two-month temporary release in early April linked to this disease, in an interview on Friday with France 24 and Radio France Internationale.

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“ Naturally, the judge (issued) an order for 60 days or for the duration of the pandemic. When she finishes, naturally, he (Hissène Habré) will have to join his cell, "said Macky Sall. "We transferred him (to his home in Dakar) at the request of his lawyers and himself. We preferred not to take the risk of seeing him contract, in a prison environment, the coronavirus. It is a humanitarian measure and a precaution, "added the Senegalese leader. Hissène Habré, 78, benefited on April 7 from a temporary prison release granted by the Senegalese justice system and joined the same day one of her houses in Dakar.

The prison in the Senegalese capital where he was detained for crimes against humanity, was to house the forty defendants as part of the fight against the coronavirus. Leader of Chad from 1982 to 1990, Hissène Habré was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 30, 2016 after an unprecedented trial in Dakar, after being convicted of crimes against humanity, rape, executions , slavery and abduction.

Overthrown in 1990, the former Chadian president had found refuge in Senegal, where, under international pressure, the conditions for his trial had been created. He was arrested there in 2013 and charged by the special tribunal established in cooperation with the African Union.