THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A decision granting former Congolese leader Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo conditional release while awaiting a war crimes trial was reversed, officials said.
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court based in The Hague,, Netherlands, issued its reversal of a pre-trial panel Wednesday, the ICC said in a release. His release had been stayed pending appeal.
Bemba, former vice president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for alleged crimes committed in the Central African Republic between October 2002 and March 2003, including rape, murder and pillaging.
The appeals panel said it thought the Pre-Trial Chamber "misappreciated and disregarded relevant facts" in deciding to release Bemba pending trial. Among the conditions was that a country willing to house him until the trial would have to be identified, but never was.
The Appeals Chamber said without a named nation's cooperation, "the decision to grant conditional release would be ineffective," the ICC said in the release.
The ICC is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes people accused of the most serious crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
