The Brazzaville criminal court handed down suspended...

The Brazzaville criminal court handed down suspended death sentences to former prime minister of the Republic of Congo, Bernard Kolelas, and his cousin, former Interior Minister Philippe Bikikinta. They were both tried in absentia on charges of torture, rape and kidnapping during the 1997 civil war. Kolelas was in the US, which does not have an extradition treaty with Congo. He fled abroad in 1997 after former military ruler Denis Sassou Nguesso won power, ending a brief but bloody conflict that devastated Brazzaville.