Media Advisory: 12 May 2023

Closing Statements in the Al Hassan trial: Practical information

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud in the Courtroom

The closing statements in the case The Prosecutor v. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud are scheduled to take place from 23 to 25 May 2023 in Courtroom III at the seat of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Statements will be made by the Office of the Prosecutor (maximum 4 hours), the Legal Representatives of Victims (maximum 1.5 hours), and the Defence (maximum 4 hours). These statements may be followed by questions from the Chamber. Subsequent to the closing statements, the judges will commence their deliberations and the judgment will be pronounced in due course.

ICC Trial Chamber X is composed of Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (President Judge), Judge Tomoko Akane and Judge Kimberly Prost. Mr Al Hassan is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Timbuktu (Mali).

Webstreaming of the hearings:
The hearings can be followed with a 30 minute-delay on the ICC website, in English, French and Arabic (Courtroom III).

Attending the hearings:

Members of the diplomatic corps, NGOs and other members of the public can request attendance via email to: [email protected] before 22 May 2023. 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 can request accreditation via email to: [email protected] before 22 May 2023. 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).

Individuals who have not received a confirmation in advance of the hearing will not be granted access to the building. Those attending are advised to arrive 20 minutes in advance before the hearing starts.

Audio-visual materials:
Images of the hearing will be available for download in video (MPEG-4) and audio (MPEG-3) format, and for viewing on the official ICC YouTube Channel.

Photographs of the hearing will be available on the ICC Flickr account. For information on audio-visual matters, please contact [email protected]

Background: The trial in this case opened on 14-15 July 2020, including with the opening statement of the Prosecutor and resumed on 8 September 2020, when the Prosecution started to present its evidence. 52 oral witnesses were called by the Prosecution at this stage. On 8 February 2022, the Legal Representatives of Victims made their opening statements before the judges. From 8 to 10 February 2022, the Legal Representatives called two witnesses to testify. On 9 May 2022, the Defence of Mr Al Hassan made its opening statement. The first Defence witness started testifying on 10 May 2022. 22 Defense witnesses appeared in court, the last having completed testimony on 3 November 2022. On 6 February 2023, the Defence notified the judges of the closure of its presentation of evidence. On 8 February 2023, Trial Chamber X declared the closure of the submission of evidence in this case and parties and participants were requested to file their final briefs.

For further information on this case, check here