Credit: © ICC-CPI/Armin Taslaman /  DR Congo VP Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo in the ICC courtroom during the delivery of his guilty verdict on 21 March 2016 of war crimes. Then on 8, June 2018, the Appeals Court of the ICC decided, by majority, to acquit Bemba from all charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.   

By Gary Raynaldo         DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The International Criminal Court Monday rejected Former DRC vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba  legal claim he was owed nearly $100 Million  in compensation from ICC  for the 10 years he “rotted” behind bars  in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICC’s Appeal judges in June 2018 overturned Bemba’s 2016 conviction, when he was found guilty of two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes. He had been sentenced to 18 years in jail. The  ICC ruled Bemba could not be criminally liable for the crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003.  Bemba then took legal  action against the ICC  seeking millions for the 10 years of his life he claims the  ICC stole from him, in addition to  his assets — including seven aircraft (including a Boeing 727-100),  (six aircraft at N’djili airport,  Kinshasha),  DRC,  two boats  and three villas in Portugal he lost as a result of his decade-long incarceration.   According to the claim, the ICC  v. Bemba case is “almost unprecedented”.  Bemba  alleged the Court acted negligently in seizing and freezing his property but failing to properly manage it or even account for it.  The decade behind bars Bemba spent was tragic, his lawyer maintained.

“The (ICC) Chamber considered that Mr Bemba failed to establish that he had suffered a grave and manifest miscarriage of justice within the meaning of article 85 of the ICC Rome Statute, and accordingly, declined to exercise its discretion to award compensation to Mr Bemba…  the Chamber found that the matter falls outside the scope of article 85 of the ICC Rome Statute and of its competence, and accordingly dismissed it.”

-ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II Decision 

The Chamber also noted that, since the responsibility for the proper execution of a cooperation request emanating from the Court rests primarily with the requested States, with the role of the Registry limited to facilitating their communication with the Court, its decision is without prejudice to Mr Bemba’s right to pursue other procedural remedies and avenues which might otherwise be open to him for alleged damages to his assets  as a consequence of measures taken in connection with the implementation of the Court’s orders.

J.P. Bemba Spent Nearly 10 Years In ICC Jail Before Acquittal of All War Crime Charges 

Credit: Flikr.com /  (1) ICC Detention Centre is located within a Dutch prison complex /

Credit: Flikr.com / (2) Prison cell at ICC Detention Centre in The Hague,  Netherlands 

“To spend a period of 10 years in detention as an innocent man is unimaginable. No matter how relatively comfortable the prison, and beyond the limited privileges it may afford, all liberty is removed. Mr. Bemba was locked in his room every night for over 3,000 nights. All travel was denied to him. He did not see his homeland, an neither oceans nor mountains. For 10 years, if he wanted to take a walk, he had to walk around in a circle.”

Bemba’s  lawyer Peter Haynes – stated  March  2 019

Bemba Arrived Back in DRC by Private Jet to Register for Presidential Elections

Credit: Jean-Pierre Bemba via Twitter / Bemba boards private jet enroute to DR Congo Aug. 1, 2018  after being freed from the ICC prison following his acquittal of war crime charges. However, DR Congo Banned Former War Lord Jean-Pierre Bemba from running In Election.  Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi decisively won the December 2018 presidential election with 36.6 percent of the votes after Joseph Kabila agreed to step down. 

Bemba  alleged the Court acted negligently in seizing and freezing his property by failing to properly manage it or even account for it