Media Advisory: 10 May 2012

Practical information for media: Closing statements in the trial against Katanga and Ngudjolo Chui will commence on 15 May

ICC-CPI-20120510-MA122

Situation: The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Case: The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui

The closing statements in the case The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui will commence before the Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court on 15 May 2012 at 9:00 (The Hague local time), and will continue as follows:

Date	Time	Schedule for presentations
Tuesday, 15 May 2012	9:00-11:00; 11:30-13:00	Closing statement of the Prosecution
Wednesday, 16 May 2012	9:00-11:00; 11:30-13:30	Questions posed to Prosecution; Closing statement of Legal representative of victims
Monday, 21 May 2012	9:00-11:00; 11:30-13:00	Closing statement of the Defence
Tuesday, 22 May 2012	9:00-11:00; 11:30-13:00	Closing statement of the Defence
Wednesday, 23 May 2012	9:00-11:00; 11:30-13:30	Questions posed to the Defence; Prosecution and Defense have the opportunity to respond.

As indicated in the Trial Chamber’s order setting the timetable, the parties and participants should be prepared at the closing hearings to entertain questions from Trial Chamber II composed of Judges Bruno Cotte (presiding), Fatoumata Dembele Diarra and Christine Van den Wyngaert, when their closing statements are delivered orally.

Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Congolese nationals, are charged with three counts of crimes against humanity and seven counts of war crimes allegedly committed in the context of an armed conflict in Ituri which began in Djugu territory and in the town of Mongbwalu, and in particular during the joint attack by combatants allegedly led by Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui and Germain Katanga on Bogoro village on 24 February 2003, which was allegedly part of a widespread attack directed not only against a military camp located in that village but also against the civilian population of the village. The trial started on 24 November 2009.

Further information on this case is available here.

Web streaming of the hearings

The hearings will be held in open sessions unless ordered otherwise. The proceedings can be followed with a delay of 30 minutes on the ICC website at:

Courtroom I :

English: http://livestream.xs4all.nl/icc1.asx
French: http://livestream.xs4all.nl/icc2.asx

Hearings’ summaries and AV programmes

Audio and video rough cuts of the hearings will be available for the media on the ICC YouTube channel for viewing, and for downloading in broadcast quality on an FTP server. “In the courtroom” weekly programmes (radio and television) in French will be available for viewing and download on Friday 18 May and Thursday 24 May. A Swahili version will also be available on Friday 25 May.

Attending the hearing

Journalists attending the opening of the hearings are kindly asked to:

confirm their attendance by sending an email to [email protected];
arrive no later than 08:30 (The Hague local time);
use the public entrance located at Regulusweg; and
present a valid press identification card.

Media Centre

The Court’s Media Centre will open at 08:00 and will close at 17:30.

The area can seat 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; and 7 telephones that may be used free of charge for internal calls. For external calls, journalists are advised to use their mobiles or 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. Mobile phones cannot be used in the public gallery.

Photography

Please note that it will not be possible to take photos in the courtroom before the start of the proceedings. However, the Court will provide to all those currently subscribing to receive ICC press releases a link to a selection of high resolution digital photos taken by the photographer (agency pool) during the hearing.

Recording facilities

The Court will provide feed from the Courtroom to the hot-desk area of the Media Centre. The tables in the Media Centre contain plugs for the video and audio feed from the courtroom (4:3, PAL): BNC video output and XLR audio output. You can record from three possible audio channels: 1 - floor, 2 - French and 3 - English. Each table contains an audio plug. If you need to record on two channels, please use another plug at another table for the second channel. The ICC does not have spare cables available for the crews.

Feed for the SNG trucks

SNG trucks can record the signal from the Courtroom from the distribution box placed in the media parking facilities (see below). Please note that there is no power supply available at the car park and that it is therefore necessary to have a generator.

Parking facilities

Media representatives can use the parking facilities located at the intersection of Regulusweg and Wegastraat.

For information related to audio-visual matters, please contact Violeta Willemsen-Curcic, Producer, at + 31 70 515 8422 or at [email protected].

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