The Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided to postpone the opening date of the trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, originally scheduled for April 27, to Monday July 5, said the ICC in a statement sent Tuesday to APA by the representative of the Court in Kinshasa.
On Monday, the Chamber had given to the office of the Prosecutor and the legal representatives of the victims until March 29 to submit their comments and requested that a summary of the request of the defense be notified to the Congolese and Central African Republic authorities no later than April 19, 2010.
The Chamber will render its decision after considering the written submissions and oral presentations to be held on April 27, 2010, the original date set for the trial. The Chamber will hold a conference on the state of the plea for inadmissibility raised by the defense of Mr. Bemba to the pre-trial hearing of April 27, 2010.
Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo was arrested on May 25, 2008 in Brussels following a warrant issued by the trial chamber of the ICC and transferred on July 3 that year to The Hague where he is currently detained at the Detention Unit of the Court in Scheveningen.
The ICC prosecutor accused Bemba of being criminally responsible for having actually acted as commander of two crimes against humanity (murder and rape) and three war crimes (murder, rape and plunder), allegedly committed on the territory of the Central African Republic during the period going approximately from October 26, 2002 to March 15, 2003.
He left Kinshasa since April 11, 2007 following the clashes on March 22 and 23 the same year in the center of Kinshasa between his bodyguards and loyal elements of the national army.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
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