Jean-Pierre Bemba - Arrest and Trial

Arrest and Trial

In March 2003, Central African President Patassé was ousted, and the government that replaced him pressed charges against Patassé and Bemba in September 2004. International arrest warrants were issued, but because the new government was unable to have Bemba arrested, the matter was referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). On May 22, 2007, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo decided to open investigations into crimes committed in the Central African Republic. This did not mean that Jean-Pierre Bemba was specifically targeted, but his indictment was a potential result of the investigation.

On 23 May 2008, a Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Bemba bore individual criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic between 25 October 2002 and 15 March 2003, and issued a sealed warrant for his arrest. He was charged with five counts of war crimes (murder, rape, torture, pillaging, and outrages upon personal dignity) and three counts of crimes against humanity (murder, rape and torture).

On May 24, 2008, Bemba was arrested near Brussels. He was surrendered to the ICC on 3 July 2008 and transferred to its detention centre in the Hague. He was the first person arrested in connection with the ICC's investigation in the Central African Republic. The Supreme Court of the Central African Republic had been unable to prosecute cases against Bemba and former CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé.

The MLC denounced the arrest and requested that Parliament do likewise; it also asked that Parliament call on the Belgian government to respect Bemba's immunity as a Senator under Congolese law. MLC official Delly Sesanga accused ICC prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo of trying "to interfere with the internal businesses of Congo", describing such interference as "unacceptable"; Sesanga also said that, although the prosecution claimed Bemba was a flight risk, there had been no indication of that. More than 2,000 supporters of Bemba protested in Kinshasa on May 27, demanding that he be freed.

Bemba's defense argued that the legal procedures applied to Bemba's case were irregular, but on July 1 a Belgian court rejected this argument, making it possible to transfer Bemba to the ICC. Bemba's lawyer Aime Kilolo Musamba said that Bemba had "no fear of the ICC" and was "totally sure of his innocence", but he also said that Bemba would seek the intervention of the United Nations Security Council in hopes that it would demand the suspension of his case because he had "done a lot of work for peace". Meanwhile, MLC official Fyfy Osambia argued that "the matter has been politicised" and that people "close to President Kabila" were responsible for the complaint against Bemba. He said that Bemba should be allowed to go before the ICC without being a prisoner.

Following the Belgian court's ruling, Bemba was transferred to the ICC in The Hague on July 3. Musamba stressed that this was an opportunity to prove that Bemba was innocent. In a hearing on July 4, Bemba made his first appearance at the ICC, and the beginning of a hearing dealing with confirmation of the charges against him was set for November 4. Geraldine Mattioli of Human Rights Watch said on this occasion that she hoped Bemba would additionally be tried for crimes committed in his own country.

On 15 June 2009, an ICC Pre-Trial Chamber confirmed some of the charges against Bemba and committed him to trial. However, the judges did not find that there was sufficient evidence to try him for torture and outrages upon personal dignity. On 8 July 2009, Bemba was granted a temporary release to attend his father's funeral in Brussels.

On 2 December 2009 the ICC ruled that Bemba was a flight risk and must remain in custody until his trial.

The trial of Bemba began on 22 November 2010