Democratic Republic of Congo’s former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba is seeking damages of $75 million from the war crimes court.
Bemba, 56, spent almost a decade in the International Criminal Court detention centre.
He was released by the ICC Judges last year after his 2016 conviction for war crimes was overturned.
Bemba was freed in Belgium leading to his return to DR Congo last year.
He was accused of allowing his forces to go on rampage in Central African Republic killing people in 2002 and 2003.
But the judge said Bemba cannot be held responsible for the actions of his forces since he made attempts to stop the crimes.
The former DR Congo vice president is now seeking compensation for his unlawful detention.
His lawyers on Monday filed legal documents seeking damages for fees and losses he suffered due to the reported mismanagement of assets seized by the court.
One of his lawyers, Peter Haynes said these assets include seven airplanes, three villas in Portugal, three parcels of land in the DR Congo and two boats.
There was no indication when the case will be heard. But Bemba’s lawyers say part of the damages will be used to pay war victims.
Last year the ex-vice president of DR Congo was prevented from running for President in the 2018 election.
The electoral commission explained that Bemba’s ICC conviction for witness tampering was the reason for his exclusion from the list.
The court sentenced Jean-Pierre Bemba to 12 months in prison last year. He will however not serve the jail term.
This is because he already served prison terms during his earlier conviction on war crimes.
He was however fined 300,000 euros for witness tampering during his trial for war crimes trial.
Source: Africafeeds.com
