This is what we found on Wikipedia regarding the Bokassa:

Jean-Bédel Bokassa ([ʒɑ̃ bedɛl bɔkasa] ; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996) was a Central African political and military leader. He became the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) after seizing power in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état on 1 January 1966. He later established the Central African Empire (CAE) with himself as emperor, reigning as Bokassa I until his overthrow in a 1979 coup.

Of this period, Bokassa served about eleven years as president and three years as self-proclaimed Emperor of Central Africa, though the country was still a de facto military dictatorship. His "imperial" regime lasted from 4 December 1976 to 21 September 1979. Following his overthrow, the CAR was restored under his predecessor, David Dacko. Bokassa's self-proclaimed imperial title did not achieve international diplomatic recognition.

In his trial in absentia, Bokassa was tried and sentenced to death. He returned to the CAR in 1986 and was put on trial for treason and murder. In 1987, the jury did not decide on the charges of cannibalism because of a general amnesty, but found him guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes. The resulting death sentence was later commuted to life in solitary confinement, but he was freed in 1993. Bokassa then lived a private life in Bangui, and died in November 1996.

Bokassa was posthumously rehabilitated by President François Bozizé in 2010, leading to an upsurge in his popularity, despite his well-known crimes and extravagances.