ICC to rule Friday on admissibility of former Congo general case

Sep 24, 2009, 16:26 GMT

The Hague - The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is due to deliver judgement on Friday on the appeal of a former Congolese general who claims his case cannot be admitted to the UN-sponsored court.

Germaine Katanga, 31, commander of the Force de Resistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI) has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Katanga, as the head of the FRPI, is accused of planning an attack in 2003 on the village of Bogoro in which 200 civilians were killed.

The prosecution claims civilians were the target of massive crimes during the conflict in Ituri between the FRPI forces of Katanga and other armed groups.

Katanga's defence argued the case was inadmissible in The Hague because the former army commander would also have to have been charged with similar crimes before the courts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The trial chamber of the ICC however ruled on June 29, 2009 the trial in The Hague could continue as planned, emphasizing the DRC was not prepared to prosecute Katanga and had in fact referred the case to the ICC in The Hague.

Arrested and brought to the Netherlands on October 18, 2007, Katanga first appeared in court on October 22, 2007. His trial is due to start on November 24 this year.

Katanga is the second leading army official to be tried by the ICC following the start of the investigations mid-2004. The former general has rejected all charges during previous pre-trial hearings.

More than 8,000 civilians died in the Ituri region of the DRC between January 2002 and December 2003, and more than 500,000 people were displaced.