ICC drops war crimes charges against former Central African Republic government minister

THE HAGUE, Nethlerlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court announced Thursday it was dropping about 20 charges including murder, extermination, deportation, torture and persecution against a former government minister from the Central African Republic, citing a lack of evidence and available witnesses.

Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the court based in The Hague in the Netherlands, issued a statement saying he was withdrawing all charges against Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka because there were “no longer any reasonable prospects of conviction at trial.”

Mokom, 44, was released soon after the court made the announcement. He was accused of coordinating operations of the anti-Balaka, a mainly Christian group that fought against the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel group. The fighting left thousands dead and displaced hundreds of thousands in 2013 and 2014.

During a pretrial hearing in August, Mokom’s defense team told judges that prosecutors had already uncovered evidence that could exonerate Mokom, even before his arrest in neighboring Chad in 2022.