"I plead not guilty to all charges and all situations," Said, dressed in a dark grey suit, told the judges.The mostly Muslim Seleka militia groups seized power in 2013-2014 as part of the Central African Republic's long-running civil war, ousting then-President Francois Bozize.
“For us victims, we can say that is a great relief, and we are paying close attention to the trial at the ICC, " Francine Evodie Ndemade, president of an association for victims of military conflict in CAR, told Reuters. According to Khan, Said "actively hunted down civilians" and brought them to the prison knowing "what nightmare awaited them under his control" including torture, being held in "putrid conditions" in an underground cell known as the hole without food or water.
In Bangui a woman in her thirties who was captured and imprisoned by Seleka fighters in 2014 and asked to remain anonymous, said she welcomed the Said trial.