THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- An international tribunal said Thursday a former Democratic Republic of the Congo official will go to trial on war crime charges in April.
Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, a former Congolese vice president, is charged with crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic between October 2002 and March 2003, including rape, murder and pillaging, the United Nations said in a release.
Judges at the International Criminal Court, located at The Hague, Netherlands, found Bemba had the "necessary criminal intent" when he ordered his armed group, the Mouvement de liberation du Congo, into Central African Republic to support embattled leader Ange-Felix Patasse.
The court said MLC fighters committed war crimes and crimes against humanity on that mission with Bemba "effectively acting as military commander."
