His lawyers said on Sunday that a plea for the release of former Chadian president Hissène Habré, who was sentenced to life in prison by an African court in Dakar for crimes against humanity, was denied by the Senegalese judiciary.
Habré, 79, was Chad’s president from 1982 to 1990.
After an extraordinary trial in Dakar, he was found guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, murders, slavery, and kidnapping and was sentenced to life in prison on May 30, 2016.
According to a Chadian commission of inquiry, there were 40,000 victims of persecution under the Habré dictatorship.
After being deposed in 1990, the former Chadian president sought asylum in Senegal, where he was tried under international pressure.
In 2013, he was apprehended and charged by a special court established in collaboration with the African Union. He has been serving his sentence in a Dakar prison since his arrest.
According to Africanews, more than 7,300 victims who have yet to be compensated were awarded 82 billion CFA francs (approximately 125 million euros) by the court that sentenced Habré.
