Lawyer: Central African Republic soccer chief is innocent

Sport

Lawyer: Central African Republic soccer chief is innocent

2021-02-18 18:51 Last Updated At：19:00

The former head of Central African Republic's soccer federation used the popular sport to foster peace and unity in his country and played no role in anti-Muslim atrocities, his lawyer told judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday.

Defense lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops told the three-judge panel in his opening statement that Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona is a victim of a rush to justice by prosecutors.

Both Ngaïssona and his co-defendant Alfred Yekatom, a rebel leader known as Rambo, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to multiple charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity as their trial opened at the global court.

Prosecutors accuse them of being senior leaders in a predominantly Christian militia known as the anti-Balaka that engaged in bitter fighting with the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel group and its perceived supporters in 2013 and 2014. The violence left thousands dead and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee.

But Knoops countered that Ngaïssona's “endeavor in life was to bring peace and unity in his country, to reunite his people."

He called Ngaïssona "a person who was refusing to use violence, was refusing to use military means to achieve this goal. This is our defense case.”

Prosecutors say Ngaïssona is complicit in anti-Balaka crimes because he helped to arm, organize and gave political support to the group as it went on a bloody, vengeance-fueled rampage against Muslim civilians after the Seleka had violently seized control of the country in 2013 and ousted then-President Francois Bozize.

Yekatom's defense lawyers will make their opening statement when they begin presenting their evidence. That's likely to be months away as prosecutors have said they will call witnesses, including victims, experts and “insiders” to testify at the trial.

Both men face maximum sentences of life imprisonment if convicted.

Knoops insisted that Ngaïssona used his influential position at the head of the soccer federation for good.

“His weapon, if we can speak about weapons in a metaphorical sense, was making his experience with sports — football — instrumental also for the unification of his people from all ethnicities,” Knoops said.

Rolland Courbis, a passionate figure in French soccer, dies at 72

PARIS (AP) — Former Marseille coach Rolland Courbis, a charismatic figure of French soccer who later became a prominent pundit, has died, his employer said on Monday. He was 72.

RMC radio did not disclose the cause of the death in a statement released in agreement with Courbis' family.

Born in Marseille, Courbis came through the club's academy. A rugged defender, he was part of the team that won the French league and cup double in 1972 and returned to the club in the late 1990s as coach.

As a player, he also won two French league titles and a French Cup with Monaco.

“A Marseillais at heart, he embodied popular, dynamic football. His unmistakable accent carried his frank, direct, often passionate and always sincere words,” Marseille said in a tribute.

Courbis enjoyed a much-traveled coaching career, with spells in France and abroad, notably at Bordeaux, Lens, Montpellier and the USM Alger.

Among the many defining moments of his career was a stunning comeback he oversaw when coaching Marseille. His team found itself 4-0 down at home to Montpellier in 1998 but fought back to seal a remarkable 5-4 victory.

Courbis, who had a taste for casino gambling and lived with an Italian countess for a while, led a tumultuous life. He was seriously wounded in 1996 when gunmen fatally shot the president of a French soccer team outside a stadium following a game. Courbis, who was also involved in several legal cases and sentenced to prison, was hit by a bullet during the attack.

France coach Didier Deschamps said that with his passing, French soccer lost “a fine connoisseur of football and its inner workings, but also of the game itself.”

“He was a true passionate figure,” Deschamps added. “And in recent years, he chose to pass on that passion behind a microphone, with a turn of phrase all his own.”

Since 2005, he had become a consultant on RMC, where he commented on football news.

“His passion came through in his trademark Marseille accent and in a very direct rapport with listeners,” RMC said. “A freedom of tone that kept the language of the supporters, while sharing their questions and emotions. He was particularly successful in remaining approachable and warm, while still being demanding on substance.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer