Sierra Leone: 52 years in prison for rebel leaders

The UN backed tribunal has upheld sentences of up to 52 years in prison to three men who were rebel leaders during the country’s civil war, said France24. The court accepted certain grounds for appeal by the defendants, the five judge panel confirmed the sentences for Issa Hassan Sesay (52 years), Morris Kallon (40 years) and Augustine Gbao (25 years). The three men were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing a spree of rapes and killings during the country’s brutal civil war, which ended in 2001 after a decade of bloodshed. This was the last ever judgement to be held in Freetown.