ICC TC to deliver sentence for Bemba on 21 June: On 10 June 2016, ICC Trial Chamber III announced that it will deliver the sentence in the case The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo during a public hearing on Tuesday 21 June 2016 at 13:45 Central European Time. The former Congolese vice-president has been in ICC detention since June 2008, and was convicted on 21 March 2016 of two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes, including murder and rape. In the first ever ruling on command-responsibility before the ICC, Bemba was found guilty of failing “to prevent or repress” the crimes committed by his troops, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), during the 2002-3 campaign in Central African Republic. Under Article 77 of the Rome Statute, a convicted person can be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years, or life imprisonment when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the individual. The Prosecution has asked the judges for a minimum sentence of 25 years, which the Defence has opposed by arguing that Bemba has already served the appropriate sentencing time for the crimes he was convicted for. (ICC Press Release)
Habré appeals conviction before Extraordinary African Chambers: The legal team for Chad’s former dictator Hissène Habré has appealed against his conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity, a spokesman for the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) said on Saturday. On May 30, the special court set up by Senegal and the African Union to conduct Habré’s trial, sentenced the 73-year-old to life imprisonment for war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity, including rape and sexual slavery. More than 40,000 people are said to have died at the hands of Habré’s security forces in Chad between 1982 and 1990, and many more were tortured. The Chamber’s spokesman stated that the appeal process will only start after the judges’ decision on reparations for the victim’s relatives, which is expected by July 31. “We are convinced of his innocence for all charges he’s facing,” said one of Habre’s court-appointed lawyers, Mounir Ballal, who criticized the sentence for being too severe. (Reuters, EWN, ENCA, AP)
Testimony of last Mladic defence witnesses begins: Last week, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz informed the UN Security Council that the last defence witnesses for former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic are due to testify by the end of the week. Brammertz added that the presentation of evidence should also be completed by the end of the week, and that closing arguments may be heard in the autumn. Among the defence witnesses due to appear before the judges is Russian officer Colonel Andrei Demurenko, who was in charge of the UNPROFOR’s headquarters in Sarajevo in 1995 and who has also previously testified for the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic’s defence. Challenging the Prosecution’s case, Demurenko claims that the Republika Srpska Army led by Mladic could not have have been responsible for the Markale market shelling that killed more than 43 people in Sarajevo in August 1995. Mladic, 72, has been on trial at the Hague tribunal since 2011 and is facing 11 charges, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The first-instance verdict should be pronounced by November 2017. (BalkanInsight)
Post by: Beatrice Tesconi
The post 13 June 2016 – NEWS ABOUT THE COURTS – Bemba Sentencing on 21 June, Habre appeals conviction, last Mladic defence witnesses appeared first on ICL Media Review.