THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The International Criminal Court rejected an appeal by an accused Congolese war criminal to have the case against him dismissed.
Former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba said charges of war crimes filed against him are inadmissible in the ICC. His defense team said he couldn't be tried at the ICC because authorities in the Central African Republic decided not to prosecute him for alleged atrocities committed there in 2002 and 2003.
An appeals chamber at the ICC ruled that a CAR decision not to prosecute the case "does not cover decisions to close judicial proceedings in order to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court."
Bemba is accused of leading a militia into neighboring CAR, where he allegedly ordered mass atrocities. He said he wasn't in command of the troops once they crossed the Congolese border.
He was arrested in 2008 in Belgium.
The ICC ruling clears the way for the chamber to schedule an opening for his trial.
