The ancient Malian city of Timbuktu was built in the 15th and 16th century. A few years ago, jihadists were accused of demolishing Timbuktu’s fabled shrines and committing crimes of rape, torture and sex slavery. A jihadist appeared Wednesday at the International Criminal Court
Head of ‘Islamic police’ appears before ICC
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, a member of the Ansar Dine jihadist group, was the “de facto chief of the Islamic police” in Timbuktu, the ICC said. Prosecutors allege the 40-year-old “committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Timbuktu, Mali, between April 2012 and January 2013”Hassan had about 40 Islamic police under his control and “played a leading role in committing crimes, as well as religious and sexist persecution”, according to AFP. “All infractions” of the strict Islamic laws were “punished by whippings, torture during detention and the destruction of sites devoted to religious practises,” the warrant says, adding that Hassan himself took part in the lashings
‘The City of 333 saints’
Dubbed “The City of 333 saints”, Timbuktu’s holy shrines were built in the 15th and 16th centuries when it was revered as a centre of Islamic learning and a spiritual hub. Extremists, however, see its moderate form of Islam as idolatrous. The jihadists were angered by the long-held practice
of worshipping at the shrines and mausoleums of Muslim saints
Guilty of cultural destruction
Hassan is the second Islamic extremist to face trial at the ICC for the destruction of Timbuktu, following a 2016 landmark ruling at the world’s only permanent war crimes court. In the court’s first case to focus on cultural destruction, the ICC judges found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi guilty of directing attacks on the UNESCO world heritage site in 2012