Chad ex-ruler in court on war crime charges

Chaos erupted as security forces ushered former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre into and then out of the Senegal courtroom where he is being tried on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

His lawyers said officials forcibly led him to the court to participate in the trial, which he has denounced as politically motivated.

As he entered wearing a white robe, his supporters started yelling, prompting security officers to surround him and carry him out.

Habre fled Chad following an eight-year reign at home 25 years ago. Once dubbed "Africa's Pinochet", the 72-year-old has been in custody in Senegal since his arrest in June 2013 at the home he shared in an affluent suburb of Dakar with his wife and children.

Rights groups say 40,000 Chadians were killed between 1982 and 1990. Senegal and the African Union signed an agreement in December 2012 to set up a court to bring Habre to justice.

The AU had mandated Senegal try Habre in July 2006, but the country stalled the process for years under former president Abdoulaye Wade, who was defeated in elections in 2012. Habre was wanted for trial in Belgium on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges after three Belgian nationals of Chadian origin filed a lawsuit in 2000 for arbitrary arrest, mass murder and torture.

Macky Sall, Wade's successor, who took office in April 2012, ruled out extraditing Habre to Belgium but vowed to organize a trial in Senegal.

Habre will be judged by the Extraordinary African Chambers, set up by Senegal and the African Union in February 2013 to prosecute the "person or persons" most responsible for international crimes committed in Chad during Habre's rule.

The trial will be heard by two Senegalese judges and one from Burkina Faso, who will serve as president of the process.

The chambers indicted Habre in July 2013 and placed him in pretrial custody while four investigating judges spent 19 months interviewing some 2,500 witnesses and victims and analyzing thousands of documents.

Around 100 witnesses will testify during hearings expected to last around three months, although 4,000 people have been registered as victims in the case.

Habre has said he does not recognize the court's jurisdiction and vowed that he and his lawyers will play no part.

AP - AFP