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FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) - A U.N.-backed court sentenced three former rebel leaders to prison Thursday, the first punishments handed down by the war crimes tribunal since it was set up five years ago after Sierra Leone's decade-long conflict ended.
Judge Julia Sebutinde said the men committed "heinous, brutal, atrocious, crimes never recorded in the history of mankind."
Alex Tamba Brima, 35, and Santigie Borbor Kanu, 42, were each given 50-year jail terms, while Brima Bazzy Kamara, 39, received 45 years. The three men were leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, a junta that overthrew an elected government in 1997 and was ousted by a Nigerian-led peacekeeping force the following year.
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