September 14, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — A judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a ruling today delaying the confirmation of charges hearings against a Darfur rebel chief accused of masterminding a raid on African Union (AU) peacekeepers in 2007.
The rescheduling was a result of a request by the ICC prosecutors for additional time to provide to the defense Arabic translations of witnesses’ testimonies originally due on September 10th.
Last May the ICC judges issued a sealed summons to appear for Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, the leader of the Darfur United Resistance Front (URF) as an alternative to an arrest warrant after he agreed to appear voluntarily before the court.
Abu Garda said he is confidence of his innocence and called on other suspects including Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir to follow path to clear their names.
At procedural hearing the Italian judge Cuno Tarfusser set Oct. 12 for confirmation of charges hearing, after which judges must rule whether the case is strong enough to merit a trial.
The ICC prosecutors charged Abu Garda and other unnamed rebel commanders with leading an attack on African Union (AU) peacekeepers that left 12 soldiers dead and wounded eight others according to court documents.
The counts include war crimes of violence to life, intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission and pillaging.
The ICC judges have still not made any decision on the other suspected rebels. They met with the ICC prosecutor on August 26th in a close session regarding his November 20th application for the rebel commanders.
Sudan has dismissed the appearance of Abu Garda describing it as a “play” by the ICC prosecutor to pressure Bashir into surrendering himself.
(ST)
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية