Off the wire
• Chinese vice premier stresses structural reform to boost economic growth  • U.S. stocks fluctuate narrowly after recent rally  • China, Malaysia hope to boost exchanges on silver screen  • Roundup: Refugee flow into Greece continues despite EU-Turkey agreement  • U.S. FDA proposes ban on powdered medical gloves  • 1st LD Writethru: Cotton tycoon Patrice Talon elected Benin's president  • Russia asks for U.S. action for joint truce control mechanism in Syria  • Roundup: Uganda weighs Kenya, Tanzania options for oil pipeline construction  • Turkey detains 8 foreign IS suspects in border provinces  • FlyDubai to resume flights to Russia's Rostov on Don Tuesday evening  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: DR Congolese ex-leader Bemba allegedly convicted by ICC

Xinhua, March 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted on Monday former DR Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Bemba was the commander-in-chief of the Mouvement de Liberation du Congo (MLC), which intervened in the Central African Republic in support of then President Ange Felix Patasse in 2002 and 2003.

Some 1,500 MLC troops had allegedly "intentionally committed many acts of pillaging, rape and murder" targeting at civilians from October 2002 to March 2003 in villages of the Central African Republic, according to the summary of the judgment read by presiding judge Sylvia Steiner from Brazil.

Proofs and documents allegedly show that Bemba exercised an effective control over the MLC contingent in the Central African Republic and knew his troops were committing crimes, but he "failed to take necessary and reasonable measures" to stop them, said the judgement.

Bemba had denied the charges. The politician was defeated in the Democratic Republic of Congo's 2006 presidential election and had since become an opposition figure in the country before going into exile.

He was arrested near Brussels on May 24, 2008 on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC. He is the first person arrested under an ICC investigation in the Central African Republic.

The trial in the Bemba case started on Nov. 22, 2010 and the submission of evidence in the case was closed on April 7, 2014. Endit