Democratic Republic of the Congo: The ICC organised screenings of the first two days of the trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo in Bunia and in Kinshasa

To coincide with the commencement of the trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo on 22 November, 2010, the Outreach Unit of the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched a campaign in Kinshasa and Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to provide the Congolese public with information about the trial.

Around 60 journalists followed the press conference, held at the seat of the Court in The Hague, via videoconference from the ICC office in Kinshasa. The journalists were able to directly put questions to the parties and participants in the trial of Mr Bemba.

Furthermore, the national TV station (RTNC) broadcast the first two days of the trial live, which was relayed to other Congolese TV channels, allowing a large majority of the Congolese to follow the hearing. At the same time in Bunia, Ituri province, around 80 people, including journalists as well as religious and local leaders who were invited by the outreach team, also gathered to watch the broadcast.

At the close of the two first days of the trial, the Outreach Unit took part in a number of interactive radio and TV programmes, in French and in Lingala, in particular the TV show called “Debate of the week” on Télé 7. During the whole day, the audience was informed of that special TV program on the trial of Mr Bemba and of their option to send questions via SMS. The TV show was broadcast live at 8:30 p.m. and re-broadcast several times.

Weekly audiovisual summaries of the trial will continue to be broadcast on Congolese media as well as used during information meetings held in Kinshasa and in other regions of the country, on a regular basis.

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Associate Legal Outreach Officer, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or by e-mail at: [email protected].

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