Amadé Ouérémi was sentenced on Thursday, April 13, to life in prison by Abidjan’s criminal court. This militia leader was responsible for the massacre of several hundred people on March 28 and 29, 2011 in Duékoué Carrefour. More than 800 dead according to the Red Cross, 300 according to the UN.
as reported from Abidjan, Pierre Pinto
Crimes against populations, kidnapping, looting, destruction … In total, Amadé Ouérémi is convicted of more than a dozen charges. Guilty of having committed and participated in one of the darkest sides in the history of the Ivory Coast, at the head of more than a hundred men. During the seven days of the trial, the militia leader had a good time saying that he was just a simple element under orders from rebel leaders and that he was not at the scene on March 28 and 29. In 2011, Abidjan’s criminal court did not believe it.
Amadé Ouérémi claimed that at the time he was dependent on a rebel leader called “Coulibaly de Kouibly” himself under the command of Comzone Losseni Fofana, alias “Loss”, now a colonel in the army. Heard by the investigating judge before the trial, they simply denied knowing him before he was arrested in 2013.
The defense attorney had requested that they come forward, refused by the president. At the end of this trial, Me Roseline Aka Serikpa condemns a “biased decision”. “Amadé Ouérémi is only partly responsible. It is really unfair to make him take sole responsibility for what happened in Duékoué. You saw me pray for people mentioned by Ouérémi to appear: Losseni Fofana, Coulibaly from Kouibly. And since these people are still living so much, it was up to the prosecutor to do the diligence so that they show up.
“We would have liked Loss and the other comons quoted to be there to tell their part of the truth. But a judge decided otherwise. Not all light has been shed, laments Issiaka Diaby, chairwoman of the Côte d’Ivoire’s Crisis Victims Collective, who is pleased with all that this trial has been and hopes for others. This decision is like an unfinished symphony. We will do so while we wait for justice to prosecute other perpetrators of crime, so that Côte d’Ivoire is definitely an environment of justice and peace. ”
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