Initial appearance of Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo scheduled for 5 December 2013
The initial appearance of Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo before the single Judge of the Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Judge Cuno Tarfusser, is scheduled for Thursday 5 December 2013, at 10:00 (The Hague local time). Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo was arrested in The Netherlands on 23 November 2013 by the Dutch authorities and transferred to the ICC detention centre on 4 December 2013.
During the initial appearance hearing, the single Judge will verify the identity of the suspect and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings. He will be informed of the charges against him.
Background: On 20 November 2013, Judge Cuno Tarfusser issued a warrant of arrest for Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, his lead Counsel Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo (a member of Mr Bemba’s Defence team and case manager), Fidèle Babala Wandu (a member of the DRC Parliament and Deputy Secretary General of the Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo), and Narcisse Arido (a Defence witness) for offences against the administration of justice allegedly committed in connection with the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo.
On 23 and 24 November 2013, the Dutch authorities arrested Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, the Belgian authorities arrested Aimé Kilolo Musamba, the French authorities arrested Narcisse Arido, and the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) arrested Fidèle Babala Wandu, in response to requests for arrest and surrender from the ICC.
On 25 November 2013, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Aimé Kilolo Musamba were transferred to the ICC detention centre. On 27 November 2013, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Fidèle Babala Wandu, and Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo made their initial appearance before Judge Cuno Tarfusser.
Narcisse Arido will be surrendered to the Court only upon completion of the relevant national proceedings in France.
Webstreaming of the hearing
The proceedings can be followed live on the ICC website at:
Attending the hearing
Journalists wishing to cover the hearing are kindly invited to request attendance via email to: [email protected]. All journalists must present a valid press card at the public entrance of the Court, located at Regulusweg (The Hague).
Members of the diplomatic corps, NGOs and other members of the public wishing to attend the hearing are kindly invited to request attendance via email to: [email protected]. Attendees must present a valid passport or valid ID with a photo at the public entrance of the Court, located at Regulusweg (The Hague).
Please note that individuals who do not confirm their attendance in advance cannot be guaranteed access to the hearing.
AV materials
Filming or photography is strictly prohibited inside the Court building. However pictures of the hearing will be posted on the Court’s Flickr account.
The entire hearing will be available for download on an FTP server in video (MPEG-4) and audio (MPEG-3) format, one hour after the hearing and for viewing on the official ICC YouTube Channel.
Media Centre
For media representatives wishing to use the Court’s media facilities, the media centre will open from 9:00 until two hours after the end of the hearing.
The area can seat up to 64 people and includes plasma TV screens; a Wi-Fi Internet service; cards (plug + play) for those without Wi-Fi capability in their PC or laptop; 6 computers with Internet access; and 7 telephones that may be used free of charge for internal calls. For external use, journalists are advised to purchase beforehand 0800 pre-paid phone cards available at newsagents and train stations. Please note that phone cards cannot be obtained in the vicinity of, or at the ICC.
Feed for the SNG trucks
SNG trucks can record the signal from the Courtroom from the distribution box placed in the media parking facilities (see below). Please note that there is no power supply available at the car park and that it is therefore necessary to have a generator.
Parking facilities
Parking facilities are available for media representatives at the Wegastraat car-park. Journalists attending are kindly invited to use the public entrance located on Regulusweg.
For further information, please contact Sonia Robla, Chief of Public Information Section, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-8089 or 31 (0)6 46448726 or by e-mail at: [email protected].
You can also follow the Court’s activities on YouTube and Twitter.