He was (as far as I understand it) a horrible despotic murdering ruler of Uganda.
He is (as far as I know) in exile.
Where, I dunno.
How does this work?
Isn’t he guilty of war crimes or somethign like that?
Is he now protected and happily living his life?
Exile seems like a pretty good deal, then, if so.
Did some head of state offer him exile?
Why?
Short version–he went into exile in Libya first, but his security guards got into some sort of tiff with his Libyan security, so he got kicked out of Libya, so Saudi Arabia offered him asylum, for reasons which remain obscure to me, and in addition they’re paying him a stipend of 5,000 riyals a month (about $1,400), again for reasons which remain obscure to me.
He has not ever been formally charged with any “war crimes”, although human rights groups make noises about it from time to time. It’s not likely that it will ever happen, IMO.
He is currently living in Saudi Arabia.
War crimes? If internal genocide is a war crime, then yes. If expelling 50-80 000 citizens for no reason counts, then yes.
You can find a resonable biography here. It’s biased, but there again it would be difficult to not to be.
If you ever get the chance to see Idi Amin Dada then do so (second time today I’ve posted this link). Made in 1973, it’s an amazing piece of work.
Why did the Saudis take him in? AFAIK, there has never been a definite response, but Mr Amin was a devout anti-semite (in the film he is seen brandishing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and planning to take back the Golan heights with his elite paratroop brigade (who trained on kid’s slides)). This may have played in his favour back in the 70’s.
Hope this helps
You might enjoy Talk of the Devil: Encounters With Seven Dictators when it is published in the US. The author meets with Amin and several other deposed nasties.
Exile seems too good for scum like that, but I’m glad some countries offer the opportunity.
Faced with the choice between exile (in great luxury and comfort)and being lynched by their own people, dictators will choose exile.
If the choice is between being lynched, or fighting themselves to death, …most dictators will fight themselves to death. They know the alternative.
They will fight themselves to death, thus killing some hundreds or thousands of people more and staying so much longer in power.