Islamist rebel who wrecked Timbuktu holy sites ordered to pay for his rampage
But Amad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was jailed for taking part in the raid, so an International Criminal Court trust will donate money to Timbuktu for education and aid
Amsterdam — Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on Thursday that a former Islamist rebel who was jailed for wrecking holy sites in Timbuktu was liable for damages of €2.7m. Amad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was sent to prison for nine years in 2016 after pleading guilty to war crimes for his involvement in the destruction of 10 mausoleums and religious sites in Timbuktu. The sites date from Mali’s 14th-century golden age as a trading hub and centre of Sufi Islam, a branch of the religion seen as idolatrous by some hardline Muslim groups. Because al-Mahdi is in jail and cannot afford to pay the damages, the court has asked the ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims to do so. The money will go to the Timbuktu community in the form of educational programmes, economic aid schemes and possibly a memorial. Judge Raul Pangalangan said action such as the attacks on the shrines "destroys part of humanity’s shared memory and collective consciousness, and renders humanity unable to transmit its v...
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