Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 49–50) Agoune, Mali |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
| Employer | Malian government |
| Known for | First person convicted by the ICC for such a crime |
| Movement | Ansar Dine |
| Criminal status | Released |
| Criminal charge | Attacking religious and historical buildings |
| Penalty | Nine years in prison (commuted to 7 years in 2021) |
| Wanted since | 18 September 2015 |
| Details | |
Span of crimes | 30 June 2012 – 10 July 2012 |
| Country | Mali |
| Location | Timbuktu |
| Target | 10 religious buildings |
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi (also known asAbu Tourab) was a member ofAnsar Dine, aTuareg Islamist militia in North Africa. Al-Mahdi admitted guilt in theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) in 2016 for thewar crime of attacking religious and historical buildings in theMalian city ofTimbuktu. Al-Mahdi was the first person convicted by the ICC for such a crime, and in general the first individual to ever be prosecuted solely on the basis of cultural crimes.[1] He was sentenced to nine years in prison. On 25 November 2021, his sentence was commuted to 7 years in prison, and he was released on 18 September 2022.[2]
Al-Mahdi was born approximately in 1975[3] in Agoune,Mali, which is 97 km west ofTimbuktu.[4] In 2011, he was a civil servant in the Malian government.[5] He is an ethnicTuareg and during theNorthern Mali conflict, that began in 2012, he was a member ofAnsar Dine. Al-Mahdi worked closely with the leaders ofAnsar Dine andal-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, when the two groupscontrolled Timbuktu. Specifically, he enforced decisions of the Islamic Court of Timbuktu and from May to September 2012, he ran the "Manners' Brigade".[6]
The ICC opened a formal investigation onMali, after referral of the situation by Mali to the Prosecutor,[7] on 16 January 2013 to investigate alleged crimes, that occurred since January 2012 in the context of an armed conflict in the north of the country.[8] The court issued an arrest warrant for al-Mahdi on 18 September 2015. The arrest warrant alleges, that from about 30 June 2012 to 10 July 2012 inTimbuktu, al-Mahdi committed the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against historical monuments or buildings dedicated to religion. The case against al-Mahdi represented the first time, the ICC had indicted an individual for the war crime of attacking religious buildings or historical monuments and it was the first case, before the ICC arising out of the situation inMali.[6] The arrest warrant listed ten monuments inTimbuktu, at least one of which is aWorld Heritage Site, that al-Mahdiattacked:[6]
On 26 September 2015, al-Mahdi was surrendered to the court by thegovernment of Niger and transferred tothe court's detention center inThe Hague,Netherlands.[6]
Al-Mahdi's trial began on 22 August 2016 and he pleaded guilty to the charges of destroying ninemausoleums and a mosque.[9][4] As the first person to plead guilty to a charge of the ICC, al-Mahdi made a statement expressing remorse and advising others not to commit similar acts.[10]
On 27 September 2016, al-Mahdi was sentenced to nine years in prison for the destruction of the cultural world heritage in the Malian city ofTimbuktu.[4]
In a subsequent Reparations Order of 17 August 2017, the ICC ordered individual, collective and symbolicreparations for the community of Timbuktu. The liability of al-Mahdi was determined to be 2.7 million euros.[11]
On 25 November 2021, his sentence was reduced on appeal to seven years imprisonment, and he was released on 18 September 2022.[12]
