THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – International Criminal Court judges on Friday upheld the acquittal of a Congolese man who was cleared at trial of leading a deadly militia attack in eastern Congo.
Mathieu Ngudjolo was acquitted in December 2012 of commanding fighters who destroyed the village of Bogoro in eastern Congo in 2003, raping and hacking to death some 200 people including children.
The 2012 judgment was only the second verdict in the court’s history and the first time it had cleared a suspect. Ngudjolo was acquitted of crimes including murder, rape and sexual slavery.
A five-judge panel rejected prosecutors’ three grounds of appeal against the verdict in a 3-2 majority ruling.
The two dissenting judges, Ekaterina Trendafilova and Cuno Tarfusser, said that the appeals chamber should have ordered a retrial because of errors by the trial panel, saying that “vital evidence was disregarded”, according to a summary read out by presiding judge Sanji Monageng.