Confirmation of charges hearing in Ntaganda case opens at ICC: Audio-visual materials

Situation: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Case: The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda

Today, 10 February 2014, the confirmation of charges hearing in the case of The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda opened before Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague (Netherlands).

The hearing started with the opening statements of ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, Legal representatives of victims Sarah Pellet and Dmytro Suprun, and Defence counsel Marc Desalliers. The hearing is scheduled to take place from 10-14 February 2014. Pre-Trial Chamber II is composed of Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova, Presiding Judge (Bulgaria), Judge Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany) and Judge Cuno Tarfusser (Italy).

The confirmation of charges hearing is not a trial. It is a Pre-Trial hearing held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged. If charges are confirmed, the Pre-Trial Chamber commits the case for trial before a Trial Chamber, which conducts the subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial. 

The ICC has issued two warrants of arrest for Bosco Ntaganda. As the former alleged Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo [Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), Mr Ntaganda is suspected of 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1 September 2002 and the end of September 2003. On 22 March 2013, Bosco Ntaganda surrendered himself voluntarily and is now in the ICC’s custody.

For more information on this case, please click here.

Pictures

Photographs of the hearing can be downloaded on the Court’s Flickr account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/icc-cpi/sets/72157640773193035/

 Audiovisual materials

Information materials

Questions and answers on the confirmation of charges hearing in the case The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda: English, Français

Case Information Sheet: English, Français

The Courtroom: English, Français

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: [email protected].

For more information about audiovisual programmes, please contact Violeta Willemsen-Curcic, AV Producer, Public Information and Documentation Section, at +31 (0)70 515-8422 or at [email protected]

You can also follow the Court’s activities on YouTube and Twitter.