Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone
Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
The Hague, the Netherlands, 21 June 2016
The body of war crimes convict Alex Tamba Brima, commonly known
as “Gullit”, was returned Saturday to Freetown, where it was turned
over to family members by officials of the Residual Special Court for
Sierra Leone. Brima, who died on 9 June 2016 at King Faisal Hospital
in Kigali, Rwanda, had served 13 years of a 50-year sentence for war
crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Sierra Leone’s
eleven-year civil war.
An autopsy conducted by King Faisal Hospital gave the cause of
Brima’s death as thrombotic peripheral arterial disease with gangrene of
both feet.
Brima was hospitalised in Kigali on 1 May 2016. Doctors had advised
Brima that, due to the gangrene, they would need to amputate his feet in
order to save his life, a procedure which was available in Rwanda.
Brima refused, and said he would only agree to treatment if he were
taken to Europe or North America.
Brima was convicted on 20 June 2007 on eleven counts, including for acts of terrorism, collective
punishments, extermination, murder (a crime against humanity), murder (a war crime), rape, outrages
upon personal dignity, physical violence, conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into
armed forces or groups, or using them to participate actively in hostilities, enslavement, and pillage. He
was sentenced to a 50 years in prison, with credit given for time served from March 2003. On 22 February
2008 the Appeals Chamber upheld both his conviction and his sentence.
#END
The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone is responsible for the ongoing legal obligations of the Special Court for Sierra
Leone, which concluded its mandate in December 2013. These include supervision of prison sentences, witness protection and
support, maintenance and preservation of the archives, and assistance to national prosecution authorities.
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