On 3 April 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC applied for an arrest warrant against Mr El Hishri for crimes against humanity and war crimes. ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I (“the Chamber”) assessed the material submitted by the Prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Hishri is individually responsible for having committed directly himself, ordered or overseen crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, allegedly committed in Libya from February 2015 to early 2020.

The warrant of arrest against Mr El Hishri was issued under seal by the Chamber on 10 July 2025 and reclassified as “Public” on 31 July 2025. On 1 December 2025, Mr El Hishri was surrendered to the International Criminal Court after being arrested on 16 July 2025 by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany pursuant to the warrant of arrest.

The initial appearance of Mr El Hishri took place on 3 December 2025 before Pre-Trial Chamber I. The hearing was held in the presence of the Office of the Prosecutor and the Defence. Mr El Hishri was represented during the hearing by Mr Yasser Mohamed Ahmed Hassan.

The confirmation of charges hearing took place from 19 to 21 May 2026. Over the course of three days, the judges heard oral submissions from the Prosecutor, the Common Legal Representatives of the Victims and the Defence.
On 16 July 2026, Pre-Trial Chamber I unanimously confirmed all charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes brought by the Prosecutor against Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri and committed him to trial before a Trial Chamber. 

On 20 July 2026, the ICC Presidency constituted Trial Chamber VII, which will be in charge of the case.

Next steps: Trial Chamber VII will hold status conferences, confer with the parties and participants in order to set the date of the trial and adopt the procedures necessary to facilitate the fair and expeditious conduct of the proceedings.

The Defence and the Prosecution are not automatically entitled to appeal this decision but they can request authorisation from the Pre-Trial Chamber to do so. 

Questions and Answers on the confirmation of charges in the El Hishri case: English; Arabic
 

The warrant of arrest against Mr Mahamat Said Abdel Kani also known as "Mahamat Said Abdel Kain" and "Mahamat Saïd Abdelkani" ("Mr Said") was issued under seal on 7 January 2019 for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Bangui (CAR) in 2013. Mr Said was surrendered to the ICC on 24 January 2021. The initial appearance of Mr Said before the Single Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber II, Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala, took place on 28 and 29 January 2021. The confirmation of charges hearing took place from 12 to 14 October 2021.

On 9 December 2021, Pre-Trial Chamber II partially confirmed the charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes brought by the Prosecutor against Mr Said and committed him to trial.  The trial opened on 26 September 2022. The Prosecution concluded its presentation of evidence on 15 November 2024, the Chamber having heard the testimony of 58 prosecution witnesses. On 17 March 2025, the Defence started to present its witnesses. The Defence concluded its presentation of evidence on 2 September 2025.

The closing statements took place from 25 to 26 November 2025. Statements were made by the Office of the Prosecutor, the Legal Representative of Victims, and the Defence.

Next steps: Trial Chamber VI has scheduled the delivery of its judgment on conviction or acquittal for 23 September 2026. 

Warrant of Arrest for Mahamat Said Abdel

Decision on the confirmation of charges against Mahamat Said Abdel Kani

The arrest warrant for Alfred Yekatom was issued on 11 November 2018 and unsealed on 17 November 2018. He was surrendered to the ICC on 17 November 2018 and appeared for the first time before Pre-Trial Chamber II on 23 November 2018. The arrest warrant for Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona was issued on 7 December 2018. He was arrested by the authorities of the French Republic on 12 December 2018 and transferred to the ICC detention centre on 23 January 2019, upon completion of necessary national proceedings. His initial appearance before Pre-Trial Chamber II took place on 25 January 2019. On 20 February 2019, Pre-Trial Chamber II joined the Yekatom and Ngaïssona cases.

The confirmation of charges hearing was held on 19-25 September and 11 October 2019. On 11 December 2019, Pre-Trial Chamber II partially confirmed the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought by the Prosecutor against Mr Yekatom and Mr Ngaïssona and committed them to trial. 

On 11 March 2020, Pre-Trial Chamber II rejected the Prosecution's Request for Reconsideration of, or alternatively Leave to Appeal, the "Decision on the confirmation of charges against Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona", thereby concluding the proceedings in the case before that Chamber, and ordering the Registrar to transmit the Decision Confirming the Charges and the record of the proceedings to the ICC Presidency. This was done on 13 March 2020. On 16 March 2020, the Presidency constituted Trial Chamber V to be in charge of this case and is composed of Judge Bertram Schmitt, Judge Péter Kovács and Judge Chang-ho Chung.

The trial opened on 16 February 2021 before Trial Chamber V. The prosecution called 114 witnesses to testify. The Legal Representatives of Victims also called three witnesses to testify.

On 28 November 2023, the Defence for Mr  Yekatom made its opening statement. The Defence for Mr Ngaïssona had already presented its opening statement at the beginning of trial.

On 11 December 2023, the Defence started to present its witnesses. On 27 and 28 August 2024, the presentation of evidence of the Defence ended with an unsworn statement Mr. Ngaïssona.

The closing statements took place from 9 to 12 December 2024. Statements were made by the Office of the Prosecutor, the Legal Representatives of Victims, and the Defence, followed by questions from the Chamber.

On 13 and 16 December 2024, the parties and participants filed their submissions on potential sentencing. A hearing on potential sentencing was held on 8 and 9 January 2025.

On 24 July 2025, Trial Chamber V found Mr Ngaïssona and Mr Yekatom guilty of a number of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Bangui and the west of the Central African Republic between September 2013 and at least February 2014. On the same date, Trial Chamber V sentenced Mr Yekatom to 15 years of imprisonment and Mr Ngaïssona to 12 years of imprisonment. The time spent in detention will be deducted from their sentences.

Next steps: On 26 September 2025, the Defense of Mr Ngaïssona and of Mr Yekatom, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor, filed their notices of appeals against the judgment in the case. The Appeals Chamber will rule on these appeals in due course. The suspects remain in custody at the ICC detention centre.