A former Central African militia leader and figurehead of football authorities in the country was arrested in France on Wednesday for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said. "Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona was arrested by the authorities of the French Republic pursuant to an arrest warrant" issued by the Court in December 2018, the ICC said in a statement.
Pursued for his involvement in anti-balaka militias. Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona had created controversy in February after being elected to the Executive Committee of the African Football Confederation (CAF). According to his spokesman, he is also president of the Central African Football Federation. He is being prosecuted for his alleged criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the west of the Central African Republic between September 2013 and December 2014, the court said. Created in 2013 after the Muslim-dominated Seleka rebellion came to power, anti-Christian militias with a Christian majority engaged in a 2014 Muslim hunt in and around Bangui, killing hundreds.
According to the Hague-based court, there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that "a widespread and systematic attack was perpetrated by the anti-balaka against the Muslim civilian population and anyone who seemed to support the Seleka". The ICC "has submitted to the French authorities a request for the arrest and surrender of Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona at the end of the necessary national procedures". The arrest came a few weeks after the surrender to the ICC of Alfred Yekatom, sometimes nicknamed Rambo, also a former Central African militia leader.