Confirmation hearing delayed for Ntaganda: On 18 June 2013, an ICC judge announced that the confirmation hearing for DRC warlord Bosco Ntaganda is delayed until 10 February 2014. Under the Rome Statute, the confirmation hearing determines if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. Ntaganda, who is charged with crimes against humanity, was a fugitive from the ICC for 7-years, so the judge wants to give the prosecution adequate time to prepare the case.
ICC decides that Kenya’s Ruto is partially exempt from attending trial: On 18 June 2013, ICC judges partially granted Kenyan Deputy-President William Ruto’s request to participate via video link at his trial, set to start in September. Ruto is charged with crimes against humanity relating to Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election violence. The ICC ruled that Ruto needs to be physically present at key sessions of trial including the opening and closing of the trial, the judgment, when victims present their testimony in person, and the sentencing if necessary. ICC judges also recommended that parts of the trial should be held in Kenya or Tanzania. This ruling has no legal impact on the trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also charged with crimes against humanity.
Hundreds protest delay of ex-Ivory Coast president’s ICC trial: On 17 June 2013, about 300 people protested the ICC’s decision to delay former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbago’s case. Gbago is charged with crimes against humanity relating to the Ivory Coast’s 2010 post-election violence. On 3 June, ICC judges gave prosecutors more time to gather evidence against Gbago because they ruled that there was not currently enough evidence to take the case to trial. Alphonse Soro, the organizer of the protest, said he wanted to show “indignation and incomprehension” and that “no sustainable peace [is] possible without a trial.”
Gaddafi and al-Senussi to be tried in Libya in August: On 17 June 2013, Libya’s prosecutor’s office announced that Col. Muammar Gaddafi son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Col. Gaddafi’s intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, and other senior regime members will be tried domestically in August. The men will be charged with forming criminal gangs, inciting rape, and illegal detention. The ICC has warrants out for Gaddafi and al-Senussi for war crimes, but Libya has resisted the ICC’s extradition requests. The Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said the men would receive a fair trial. Related to this announcement, on 17 June, two former senior associates of Col. Gaddafi were acquitted of wasting public money. However, the two continue to be detained as a part of the investigation for Gaddafi and al-Senussi’s trial. (For more on this topic click here.)
