Al Hassan case: ICC Trial Chamber X to deliver sentence on November 20

On 20 November 2024 at 14:00 (The Hague time), Trial Chamber X of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will deliver its decision on the sentence in the case The Prosecutor v. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud. A summary of the decision will be read out in public by Trial Chamber X, composed of Judge Kimberly Prost (Presiding), Judge Tomoko Akane, and Judge Keebong Paek, in the presence of Mr Al Hassan, his defence team, the Legal Representatives of Victims and the Office of the Prosecutor.

To make its decision, the Chamber received written submissions on sentencing from the parties and participants. Judges also held a hearing on 4 September 2024 to receive final submissions relevant to the sentence from the parties and participants.

The judges may impose a prison sentence of maximum 30 years or, when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the convicted person, life imprisonment. They may also add a fine or forfeiture of the proceeds, property and assets derived directly or indirectly from the crime committed. The Court cannot impose a death sentence.

Background
The trial in this case opened on 14-15 July 2020. On 26 June 2024, Trial Chamber X, by majority, convicted Mr Al Hassan of some of the charges brought against him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between 2 April 2012 and 29 January 2013 in Timbuktu, northern Mali, controlled at that time by the armed groups Ansar Dine and Al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Notices of appeal against verdict filed by both the Defence and the Prosecutor on 18 September 2024.