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The inaugural trial of Central African Republic’s Special Criminal Court was postponed on its first day on Tuesday when lawyers for defendants boycotted proceedings.
The hybrid court staffed by both international and Central African judges and prosecutors was set up to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the past two decades.
The trial is related to the massacre of 46 civilians in the northern villages of Koundjili and Lemouna in May 2019 killings.
According to prosecutors, the killings were carried out by the 3R rebel group; one of the most powerful armed groups in the country.
The lawyers’ absence was over a dispute about the treatment of the defenders, Joseph Bindoumi, President of the Central African League for Human Rights, said.
The trial will resume on April 25.
