Banda case: ICC Trial Chamber IV vacates the trial’s commencement date

​Situation: Darfur, Sudan
Case: The Prosecutor v. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain

Today, 16 April 2014, Trial Chamber IV of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to vacate the date of 5 May 2014, initially scheduled for the opening of the trial in the case The Prosecutor v. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, in view of logistic difficulties encountered. The Chamber will decide in due course on the further steps to take, after receiving additional submissions of the ICC's Prosecution and Registry, no later than 6 May 2014.

Background

On 7 March 2011, Pre-Trial Chamber I unanimously decided to confirm the charges of war crimes brought by the ICC's Prosecutor against Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain. Pre-Trial Chamber I found substantial grounds to believe that Abdallah Banda is criminally responsible as a co-perpetrator for three war crimes:

• violence to life and attempted violence to life;
• intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission; and
• pillaging.

These crimes were allegedly committed during an attack led by Abdallah Banda and other commanders and directed against the compound of the African Union Mission in Sudan at Haskanita on the evening of 29 September 2007. The Chamber found substantial grounds to believe that the attack was directed to personnel, installations, material, units and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations which were entitled to the protection afforded to civilians and civilian objects.

The situation in Darfur was referred to the ICC by United Nations Security Council resolution 1593 on 31 March 2005, under article 13(b) of the Rome Statute.

Decision vacating the trial date of 5 May 2014

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].

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