ICC judges order release of Congolese Former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba


Judges at the International Criminal Court, ICC, have ordered the release of Congolese Former-Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba following his acquittal last week on war crimes charges.  

According to the court order, Mr. Bemba will be freed in neighbouring Belgium, where his family lives.   Mr. Bemba, 55, has been at the ICC detention centre since his arrest in 2008. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo's opposition leader was convicted in 2016 of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 18 years in prison.  

But the conviction was overturned last Friday in a major setback for prosecutors. Appeals judges said they could not pin responsibility on Bemba for the killing and raping of civilians by soldiers under his command.  


SOURCE: Afrinews
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