By Ken Afor
François Bozize, former Central African Republic (CAR) President has been sentenced to forced labour for life.
Bozize, including his sons and 20 others on Thursday were handed life sentences in absentia for conspiracy and rebellion, according to authorities.
Also, they were convicted of breaching internal security of the state committing “murders”, the authorities added.
It would be recalled that Bozize, a former high ranking military officer in CAR in the 1970s after years in government came into power in 2003 and a decade later his government was toppled in 2013.
Ousted by a Muslim-dominated armed groups, Bozize tried to regain power with his own armed militias known as the anti-Balakas, who were mainly Christians but it was unsuccessful.
The 76-year-old went into exile in Chad until March in 2023 when he moved to Guinea Bissau.
Bozize who served as a former minister of defence from 1979 to 1981 and minister of information from 1981 to 1982 during the military era on his return to the country headed rebel groups called the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), formed in December 2020.
The CAR is often regarded as one of the world’s poorest countries since Bozize left in 2013 as a result of war.
The country still retains that status despite relative peace since 2018.
