The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday upheld an appeal against the 2016 conviction of Democratic Republic of Congo warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Bemba was convicted in 2016 on charges of having committed war crimes by allowing his forces to go on rampage in Central African Republic killing people in 2002 and 2003.
Previous Charges
Last year judges at the ICC added a year to Bemba’s 18-year jail term for attempting to bribe witnesses during his war crimes trial.
Bemba, who was vice president of the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2003 to 2006, was then ordered to pay a $323,670.00 fine to the court’s fund supporting victims of atrocities.
But the ICC has overturned his 2016 conviction by upholding his appeal against that ruling.
Reuters reports that a judge has now said Bemba cannot be held responsible for the actions of his forces who went on rampage in Central African Republic killing people in 2002 and 2003.
Christine Van den Wijngaert said the judges in the 2016 case did not take into account Bemba’s attempts to stop the crimes.
Source: Africafeeds.com
