The Central African Republic’s Special Criminal Court is due to hear its first trial on Tuesday, seven years after it was formed.
The hybrid court – staffed by both international and Central African judges and prosecutors – was set up to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the past two decades.
The court in Bangui has been praised by some as a model of justice in a country blighted by decades of civil war.
Others have cast doubt on its effectiveness.
The defendants in Tuesday’s trial are members of 3R – one of the most powerful armed groups in the country.
They are accused of massacring dozens of people in the north-west of the country.
The president of the ICC, Piotr Hofmanski, tweeted his solidarity and support for the Special Criminal Court.
