French Court Jails Ex-Liberian Commander

A court in Paris has sentenced a former Liberian rebel commander to life in jail for complicity in crimes against humanity during Liberia’s civil war.

Kunti Kamara was a senior officer in the Ulimo armed militia, which oversaw a reign of terror in northwest Liberia in the 1990s.

Eyewitnesses gave harrowing testimonies during the three-week trial.

The accusations against him included publicly murdering a schoolteacher, whose heart he then ate, and allowing soldiers under his command to repeatedly rape two teenage girls.

Mr. Kamara’s lawyers had argued that the evidence against him was unreliable.

Report says he was tried in France because he was arrested there, and French law permits prosecution for the most serious crimes, even if they were committed abroad.

Around a quarter of a million people were killed in civil unrest in Liberia in the 10 years from 1993.

BBC/CO