Bokassa men sentenced to die for murders

Press, 26 February 1980, Page 9

Bokassa men sentenced to die for murders

NZPA ' Bangui (Central African Republic)

The commandant of Bangui central prison, 'Joseph Mokoa, and his two chief aides, have been sentenced to <’:ath for their role in the murder of several dozen inmates.

This brought to five the number of death penalties delivered by the criminal court trying 34 soldiers, policemen and prison guards for atrocities committed under the rule of the selfcrowned Emperor Bokassa.

Along with the latest death penalties, three sentences to life imprisonment with hard labour, six milder prison terms, and one fine were meted out. Four people were acquitted. Fifteen people re. main to be judged. The court, which convened in a sports stadium where Bokassa crowned himself in 1976, rejected the pleas of the defendants that they were forced to commit atrocities out of fear that the emperor would kill them. The court ruled that the

defendants carried out their orders with excessive zeal. Bokassa was . overthrown in a French-backed coup d’etat in September and is living in the Ivory Coast, which has refused to extradite him to the Central African Republic for trial. The jail commanded by Joseph Mokoa was the scene of the 1979 massacre of about 100 children who had taken part in demonstrations against Bokassa’s decree that they knew of 20 children dying of asphyxiation after being stuffed in a tiny cell with 40 schoolmates. But apparently it was not established whether Mokoa and his accomplices personally took part in killing the youngsters. An inquiry by African jurists has established that Bokassa was present and executed some of the children. However, this did not come out in the testimony of former prisoners at the trial.