Jean Bedel Bokassa was the military ruler of the Central African Republic from 1 January 1966 and the Emperor of the Central African Empire from 4 December 1976 until he was overthrown on 20 September 1979. Bokassa had been sentenced to death in absentia in December 1980 for the murder of numerous political rivals. However he returned from exile in France on 24 October 1986. He was arrested and tried for treason, murder, cannibalism and embezzlement. At the end of his life he proclaimed himself the 13th Apostle and claimed to have secret meetings with the Pope. He died of a heart attack on 3 November 1996 in Bangui, at the age of 75. He had 17 wives and a reported 50 children.
Jean Bedel Bokassa
