War crimes court chief judge re-elected

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, June 9 (UPI) -- Justice Jon Kamanda of Sierra Leone was re-elected presiding judge of the Appeals Chamber of the U.N.-backed war crimes court for that country, officials said.

Kamanda's unanimous selection for a third term as the appeals court's presiding judge last month during a plenary session of judges in The Hague, Netherlands, automatically makes him president of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the United Nations said in a release.

Justice Emmanuel Ayoola of Nigeria was re-elected as vice president of the court based in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital.

The special court is an independent tribunal established in 2002 by Sierra Leone's government and the United Nations.