Closing oral statements in Bemba, Kilolo et al. trial to start on 31 May 2016: Practical information

Situation: Central African Republic
Case: The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido

Today, 29 April 2016, Trial Chamber VII of the International Criminal Court (ICC) closed the submission of evidence in the case The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido and scheduled the trial's closing oral statements to start on Tuesday 31 May 2016 at 09:00 (The Hague local time).

The closing oral statements will be made publicly in the Courtroom and are expected to last three days. The Prosecution will be allotted four hours to present its statements, followed by the Defence's closing statements, with each Defence team being allotted two hours each.

Following the closing statements, the judges will commence their deliberations and the judgment will be pronounced in due course.

Background: Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido are accused of offences against the administration of justice in connection with witnesses' testimonies in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, between the end of 2011 and 14 November 2013, including corruptly influencing witnesses by giving them money and instructions to provide false testimony, presenting false evidence and giving false testimony in the courtroom. Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido are appearing voluntarily before the Court as they were granted interim release on 21 October 2014. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is in ICC custody.

Further information on this case can be found here.

Decision Closing the Submission of Evidence and Further Directions

Webstreaming of the hearing               

The proceedings can be followed with a 30-minute delay on the ICC website at: http://video.icc.globecomm.net/

Attending the hearing

• 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 main entrance of the Court (at: Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, 2597 AK The Hague).

• 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, and a valid passport or valid ID with a photo, at the main entrance of the Court (at: Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, 2597 AK The Hague).

Please note that individuals who do not confirm their attendance in advance cannot be guaranteed access to the hearing. In order to avoid delays in accessing the building, those attending are advised to arrive one hour before the hearing starts.

ICC Media Centre

For media representatives wishing to use the Court's media facilities, the Media Centre will open at 08:30.

The ICC Media Centre is located in the building's 'Court Tower'. It is composed of hot desk areas, which can sit up to 104 people, and two interview rooms.

The Media Centre distributes the video and embedded audio of the hearing, via HD-SDI with a female BNC connection. Journalists wishing to connect to this should bring compatible equipment and a BNC cable. Power is provided (European plug).

Wi-Fi connection is available in the Media Centre.

AV materials

Filming or photography is strictly prohibited inside the Court building, apart from the interview rooms in the Media Centre.

The closing oral statements, as well as audio-visual programmes related to the proceedings, will be available for download on an FTP server in video (MPEG-4) and audio (MPEG-3) format, and for viewing on the official ICC YouTube Channel. For information on audio-visual matters, please contact Violeta Willemsen-Curcic, Head of Audio-Visual Production Unit: [email protected]

Parking facilities

Media representatives can use the ICC's Visitor Parking.

SNG vehicles

The ICC Parking includes an area for SNG vehicles. BNC connections are available and the video format is HD-SDI with embedded Audio (8 dual mono pairs): Channel 1 – Floor language (international audio); Channel 2 - English interpretation; Channel 3 - French interpretation; Channel 4 - 8 - Other languages, or if no interpretation then Floor language will be sent.

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].

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