I read this remarkable story about Chad’s remarkable woman, Jacqueline Moudeina, and thought, not for the first time, that I could never never be this courageous.<\/p>\n
Threats and obstacles have been part of Jacqueline Moudeina\u2019s life since she and a handful of others set out to bring to justice Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Source The New York Times: Surviving Grenade and Terror to Bring Chad\u2019s Ex-Leader to Trial<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
A thrilling, scary, triumphant story. Here’s how it begins:<\/p>\n
PARIS \u2014 The day she was meant to be killed, the lawyer had gathered with a group of other women in Ndjamena, the capital of Chad<\/a>, to protest electoral fraud. She heard someone call her name, then saw a man pointing at her. Seconds later, a grenade exploded at her feet.<\/em><\/p>\n
Threats and obstacles have been part of Jacqueline Moudeina\u2019s life since she and a handful of other advocates set out to bring to justice the former president of Chad, Hiss\u00e8ne Habr\u00e9, and his henchmen, who terrorized the country throughout the 1980s.<\/em><\/p>\n
The murder attempt on June 11, 2001, almost ended her mission. Doctors in France worked for a year to repair her burns and fractures and save her legs from amputation. X-rays show that her body is still pocked with shrapnel. She was left nearly deaf in one ear, she walks with a limp, and chronic pains often exhaust her.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cThe grenade became a challenge for me, to live and continue the legal work, and so I did,\u201d Ms. Moudeina said during a recent visit to Paris for a screening of a new documentary about the dark years of the Habr\u00e9 dictatorship. The film, \u201cTalking About Rose,\u201d directed by Isabel Coixet, tells the stories of people who remember his prisons firsthand.<\/em><\/p>\n
Ms. Moudeina, 58, is no ordinary lawyer. Fifteen years ago, she filed the first complaint against Mr. Habr\u00e9 on behalf of his victims. Now she is widely credited with playing a central role in bringing him before a special international court in Dakar, Senegal, where he will go on trial on Monday.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I read this remarkable story about Chad’s remarkable woman, Jacqueline Moudeina, and thought, not for the first time, that I could never never be this courageous. Threats and obstacles have been part of Jacqueline Moudeina\u2019s life since she and a … Continue reading