Lubanga case: Appeals hearings postponed; new dates to be announced shortly

​The hearings initially scheduled by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for 14 and 15 April 2014 in the case The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo are postponed for logistical reasons. The Appeals Chamber will issue an order rescheduling the hearing shortly.

On 21 March 2014, the Appeals Chamber scheduled a hearing in the case The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo to be held on 14 and 15 April 2014 in order to allow the parties and participants to orally address the Appeals Chamber on different relevant issues arising in the appeals. At the hearing, the Judges would also hear the testimony of two additional witnesses, witnesses D-0040 and D-0041, as requested by the Defense.

The hearing will be a public hearing held in the presence of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, his Defence Counsel, the Prosecution and the Legal Representatives of the Victims. Mr Lubanga Dyilo may address the Appeals Chamber at the closure of the hearing. An order setting out a precise timetable for the hearing will be issued shortly.

The Trial Chamber rendered the conviction decision in the Lubanga case on 14 March 2012. It was subsequently appealed by the Defence. The decision sentencing Mr Lubanga to 14 years imprisonment was rendered on 10 July 2012 and subsequently appealed by the Defence and the Office of the Prosecutor.  Following the two-day hearing, the Judges will make their decision on the appeals in due course.

Background: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, founder of the Union des patriotes congolais [Union of Congolese Patriots] (UPC) and the Force patriotique pour la libération du Congo [Patriotic Force for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), former Commander-in-Chief of the FPLC and president of the UPC, was found guilty on 14 March 2012 by Trial Chamber I, as co-perpetrator, of committing the war crimes of the enlistment and conscription of children under the age of 15 into the FPLC and using them to participate actively in hostilities between September 2002 and August 2003. On 10 July 2012, he was sentenced to a total period of 14 years of imprisonment. On 7 August 2012, Trial Chamber I issued a decision on the principles to be applied for reparations to victims in the case. All three decisions are currently subject to appeals. Mr Lubanga Dyilo remains in the Court's custody.

Further information on this case is available here.

Order postponing the hearing before the Appeals Chamber – 10 April 2014

Scheduling order for a hearing before the Appeals Chamber – 21 March 2014

Further order regarding the conduct of the hearing of the Appeals Chamber - 25 March 2014

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].

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