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takyon writes:

A "remorseful" Islamist has admitted to destroying shrines at a world heritage site in Timbuktu, and received a nine year prison sentence. It is the International Criminal Court's first conviction for "cultural destruction":

The International Criminal Court has sentenced an Islamist militant who destroyed ancient shrines in Timbuktu to nine years in jail. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi admitted to leading rebel forces who destroyed historic mausoleums at the world heritage site in Mali in 2012. Judges at the court in The Hague found he had shown "remorse and empathy" for the crime. It is the first sentence based on cultural destruction as a war crime.

[...] Mahdi - described as a "religious scholar" in court documents - led rebels who used pickaxes and crowbars to destroy nine of Timbuktu's mausoleums and the centuries-old door of the city's Sidi Yahia mosque. The court found he not only offered "logistical and moral support" for the attacks, but also took part in the physical destruction of at least five out of the 10 buildings. However, Mahdi had at first advised rebel leaders not to attack the shrines. Admitting to the charges last month, Mahdi claimed he had been swept up in "an evil wave". Pleading guilty, he said: "I am really sorry, I am really remorseful, and I regret all the damage that my actions have caused. I would like to give a piece of advice to all Muslims in the world, not to get involved in the same acts I got involved in, because they are not going to lead to any good for humanity," he added.

Also at NPR. The presiding judge in the case hopes the sentence will deter attacks on other world heritage sites.

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