Following the acquittal of his war crimes, former VP of DR Congo Jean-Pierre Bemba is requesting 68 million euros in damages from the International Criminal Court.
His lawyer said Bemba’s properties – including seven planes and three estates in Portugal – were “just permitted to spoil” by the court while he went through 10 years locked at The Hague.
Last June, Bemba was cleared of charges of homicide, assault, and rape done by his private militia in the neighboring Central African Republic in 2002-3. A conviction for witnesses bribing was maintained.
“A blameless man lost 10 years of his life,” legal advisor Peter Haynes said in a record sent to the ICC.
“The point is to fix a portion of the harm done to this man and his family by his capture, his detainment, and the related activities by the court,” Haynes said.
Bemba came back to his country after his vindication yet was banned from running for the restriction in Congolese decisions due to the gift conviction.
The pay request adds to the inconveniences of the ICC, which was set up in 2002 to attempt the world’s most exceedingly awful wrongdoings yet has confronted late misfortunes including the exonerations of Bemba and, in January, previous Ivory Coast pioneer Laurent Gbagbo.
Yet, Haynes said Bemba was happy to give 22 million euros – should he be granted the full pay – “to give reparations to
This sum would originate from the pay guaranteed “for the loss of 10 years of his life.”
Haynes said Bemba was qualified for pay as expressed in the Rome Statute, Icc’s founding document.