Tag Archives: sentence

ICC: Bemba sentenced to 18 years in prison

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160621-bemba-sentence-10-1Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today sentenced Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo to 18 years’ imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003.

In March the Chamber had found the former vice-president of the DRC guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crimes of murder, rape and pillaging committed by militiamen under Bemba’s command.

For the crimes of rape the Chamber imposed 18 years of imprisonment while 16 years of imprisonment were imposed for the crimes of murder and pillaging. However, the Chamber decided that the sentences imposed shall run concurrently. Continue reading →

ICC Sentences Germain Katanga to 12 Years’ Imprisonment

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Germain Katanga at the ICC today (c) ICC

Germain Katanga (c) ICC

Yesterday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced Germain Katanga to 12 years’ imprisonment.

Katanga was convicted on 7 March 2014 by a majority of Trial Chamber II of murder as a crime against humanity and the war

crimes of murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging. The majority held that Katanga had contributed to the commission of crimes by the Forces de Résistances Patriotiques en Ituri, an armed group operating in the DRC who carried out an attack against the village of Bogoro on 24 February 2003.

In his summary of the sentencing judgment, Presiding Judge Cotte highlighted the gravity and particular cruelty with which the crimes were committed, resulting in the deaths of numerous civilian victims including women and children. The Chamber considered that the crimes were also clearly committed on a discriminatory basis targeting the mainly ethnic Hema who populated Bogoro village at the time of the attack. Continue reading →

ICC: Germain Katanga to be Sentenced on 23 May

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Germain Katanga (c) ICC

Germain Katanga (c) ICC

This Tuesday, Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it will deliver the sentencing judgement in the case of Germain Katanga on 23 May 2014 at 09h30 (Hague time) in open court. Interested parties will be able to view the live webstream here.

Under Article 77 of the Rome Statute, the judges may impose a sentence of imprisonment as well as a fine or forfeiture of proceeds, property, and assets derived from the crimes. Sentences of imprisonment cannot exceed 30 years except when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the convicted person, in which case a sentence of life imprisonment may be imposed.

Germain Katanga was convicted by a majority of Trial Chamber II on 7 March 2014 of one count of crime against humanity (murder) and four counts of war crimes (murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging) committed on 24 February 2003 during the attack on the village of Bogoro, in the Ituri district of the DRC. He was convicted as an accessory of contributing to the commission of crimes by members of the Forces de Resistance Patriotiques en Ituri through supplying arms and ammunition. Continue reading →