Court: Free ex-militia chief
2008-07-02 19:26
The Hague - The International Criminal Court on Wednesday ordered DRC's former militia chief Thomas Lubanga to be freed from detention over a delay in his war crimes trial.
"Trial Chamber I orders the release of the accused," said a statement from the tribunal.
Lubanga's release was put on hold pending a possible appeal against the ruling which must be filed within five days.
"We intend to lodge an appeal tomorrow morning, so Lubanga does not leave prison," said the office of the prosecutor.
Lubanga, 47, is accused of abducting minors under the age of 15 and using child soldiers in attacks by the armed wing of his Union of Congolese Patriots between September 2002 and August 2003 in the war-torn DRC.
Humanitarian NGOs say inter-ethnic fighting and violence involving militias in the country's Ituri province - centred on control over one of the most lucrative gold-mining territories in the world - has claimed some 60 000 lives going back to 1999.
The conflict has also created tens of thousands of refugees.
Lubanga's war crimes trial, the ICC's first, was to have started last Monday, but was stalled when the court ruled that prosecutors had wrongly withheld exculpatory evidence from defence lawyers.
This "misuse" inhibited Lubanga's ability to prepare a proper defence, it said, and put an indefinite stay on proceedings until the matter is resolved.
Lubanga subsequently applied for his release, saying there were no legal grounds to hold him.
The office of chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said it was confident the trial would kick off in September.