Closing oral statements in the Bemba trial scheduled for 12 and 13 November 2014: Practical information

Situation: Central African Republic
Case: The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba

Today, 4 November 2014, Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Court (ICC) scheduled the closing oral statements in the case The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba for Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 November 2014 from 09:30 to 16:00 (The Hague local time).

The Prosecution and Defence will have approximately three hours each and the Legal representative of victims one and a half hours to make their final submissions. The closing oral statements should be limited to issues arising from the evidence admitted in the Bemba case and the participants' written closing statements.

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

Background: The trial in the Bemba case started on 22 November 2010. Mr Bemba is allegedly criminally responsible, as a military commander, for two counts of crimes against humanity (murder and rape) and three counts of war crimes (murder, rape and pillaging). Mr Bemba is in the Court's custody. 

Further information on this case can be found here.

Order on closing oral statements

Attending the hearings

• Journalists wishing to cover the hearings are kindly invited to request attendance via email to: [email protected]. All journalists must present a valid press card at the public entrance of the Court, located at Regulusweg (The Hague).
• Members of the diplomatic corps, NGOs and other members of the public wishing to attend the hearings 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 public entrance of the Court, located at Regulusweg (The Hague).

Webstreaming

The hearings can be followed, with a 30-minute delay, on the ICC website at:

Courtroom I: English | Français

AV materials

Filming or photography is strictly prohibited inside the Court building. However pictures will be posted on the Court's Flickr account.

Audiovisual materials will be available for download on an FTP server in video (MPEG-4) and audio (MPEG-3) format after the hearings and for viewing on the official ICC YouTube Channel.

For information on audio-visual materials, please email: [email protected].

Media Centre

For media representatives wishing to use the Court's media facilities, the media centre will open from 08:30 until two hours after the end of the hearing.

The area can sit up to 64 people and includes plasma TV screens; a Wi-Fi internet service; cards (plug + play) for those without Wi-Fi capability in their PC or laptop; 6 computers with internet access; 7 telephones that may be used free of charge for internal calls. For external calls, journalists are advised to purchase 0800 pre-paid phone cards beforehand. Such cards are available at newsagents and train stations. Please note that phone cards cannot be obtained in the vicinity of, or at, the ICC.

Parking facilities

Parking facilities are available for media representatives at the Regulusweg and Wegastraat car-parks.

SNG trucks

SNG trucks are not allowed to park alongside the ICC building, but should go to the car park located at the intersection of Regulusweg and Wegastraat.

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