The International Criminal Court (ICC) has acquitted Former DR Congo vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba from the charges of war crimes & crimes against humanity.
Bemba had appealed an 18-year sentence handed to him in June 2016 for crimes committed in the Central African Republic.
The 55-year-old will however remain in detention on account of another case in which he has been convicted of offences against the administration of justice, pending a decision of Trial Chamber VII in that case.
The ICC Appeals Chamber decided by majority to acquit Bemba Gombo from the charges of war crimes & crimes against humanity.
Bemba had in March 2016 been found guilty of five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his private army – the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) – after he sent them into the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) from October 2002 to March 2003 to put down a coup.
