Habre waits to hear war crimes verdictpublished at 09:02 British Summer Time 30 May 2016
Abdourahmane Dia
BBC Afrique, Dakar
The verdict in the landmark trial of former Chadian ruler Hissene Habre for crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes is due today before an African Union-backed court in Senegal.
It's the first time a former head of state is standing trial on these charges in a court set up by a country other than where the crimes were committed.
The prosecutor has demanded life imprisonment for crimes his secret police allegedly committed while he was in office between 1982 and 1990.
Between last July and February of this year, the prosecution brought 93 witnesses before the court to support its claim that Mr Habre was directly overseeing the actions of the police, known as the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).
After Mr Habre fled to Senegal in 1990 a national committee set up in Chad concluded that the DDS was behind the killings of more than 40,000 people.
The former ruler always denied these claims and refused to recognise the legitimacy of the court.
Throughout the seven-month long trial, he refused to answer the judges' questions.
He was arrested in Senegal in 2013 where he had been living for more than 20 years.
An agreement between the Senegalese government and the African Union allowed the trial to take place in Dakar rather than in Europe. This was after the alleged victims had filed the case in Belgium.
Image source, AFPHissene Habre did not recognise the authority of the court
