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The controversy triggered by the acquittal of former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba by the International Criminal Court bounced back Wednesday before the ICC The prosecution contending that the surprise judgment was based on biased evidence. ] Jean-Pierre Bemba, was sentenced in first instance in 2016 to 18 years in prison, the heaviest sentence ever pronounced by the CPI for the murders, rapes and looting committed in the Central African Republic by his militia between October 2002 and March 2003.
But last month, an appeal court overturned his conviction
It is high time to end this trial and let Mr. Bemba leave
. The court in The Hague Wednesday where the former vice president DRC is accused of bribing witnesses in his main trial. Judges should render their decisions in the coming months.
"You can not underestimate the degree of corrosion of the case before the Court of Appeal," said prosecutor Kweku Vanderpuye at the International Court. the appeal reached the very purpose of the criminal project in which the accused participated, which was the acquittal of Bemba.
Wednesday's hearing was convened after the appeals court ordered the judges to review the sentence imposed on the 55-year-old. Former Vice President and Militia Leader and Two Other Co-Accused
The Court of Appeals confirmed in March that they were guilty of bribing and bribing 14 witnesses in the main case. But she said the sentences handed down in March 2017 in this parallel case, ranging from six months to two and a half years in prison, were too light. Jean-Pierre Bemba was sentenced to one year in prison and 300,000 euros fine.
Attorney Vanderpuye requested a maximum of five years for Jean-Pierre Bemba, two of his lawyers, a member of his party and a defense witness, accused of fabricating or submitting false documents to the court. CPI and paid money to witnesses in order to obtain the acquittal of Mr. Bemba in his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity [19659003] is in our opinion clearly indefensible. But for Bemba's lawyers, it is only an attempt by the CPI to "amuse the gallery" after the verdict of acquittal "Precious Errors" made by the Trial Chamber.
Pointing out the ten that Bemba has already spent in remand, her lawyer Melinda Taylor called for a release as "the most just and most appropriate outcome," while raising the "
" it is high time to end this trial and let Mr. Bemba go, "she added
Jean-Pierre Bemba, who since his release in mid-June joined his family in Belgium, was not present at Wednesday's hearing.
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