ICC - Press Conference on the opening of the Jean-Pierre Bemba trial on Monday, 22 November

Press Conference on the opening of the Jean-Pierre Bemba trial on Monday, 22 November

ICC-CPI-20101118-MA80

Situation: The Central African Republic
Case: The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo

A press conference on the commencement of the trial in the case The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is scheduled on Monday, 22 November, 2010, at 11:00 a.m., in the Press Briefing room of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The ICC Registrar, Silvana Arbia, will open the press conference. The ICC Prosecutor, the Counsel for the Defence, and the Legal Representatives of the Victims will be available to make short statements, after which there will be an opportunity for journalists attending the event in The Hague to ask questions. Journalists from Bangui (Central African Republic) and Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) will also be participating via videoconference from the ICC field offices in those locations.

Web streaming and satellite broadcast (real time) of the press conference will be available.

Journalists attending the Press Conference are kindly invited to use the public entrance located at Regulusweg and are requested to arrive no later than 10:30 a.m. Journalists must present a valid press identification card. They are kindly requested to confirm their attendance by sending an email to [email protected]

Background information on the trial

The trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is scheduled to commence on Monday, 22 November, at 2:30 p.m. The accused is allegedly criminally responsible, as a person effectively acting as military commander within the meaning of article 28(a) of the Rome Statute, for two crimes against humanity (murder and rape) and three war crimes (murder, rape and pillaging), allegedly committed in the territory of the Central African Republic during the period from approximately 26 October, 2002 to 15 March, 2003.

After his arrest by the Belgian authorities in accordance with a warrant of arrest issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC, he was transferred to the Court on 3 July, 2008. He is currently being detained at the ICC Detention Centre in The Hague.

His trial will be held before Trial Chamber III, composed of Judge Sylvia Steiner (Brazil), Presiding, Judge Joyce Aluoch (Kenya) and Judge Kuniko Ozaki (Japan). These independent magistrates will ensure that the trial is fair and expeditious and is conducted with full respect for the rights of the defence, the equality of arms and the principle of adversarial debate, having further due regard for the protection of victims and witnesses.

The trial of Mr. Bemba is expected to take several months. At the end of the hearings, the judges of Trial Chamber III will give their decision within a “reasonable period of time”. This decision will be pronounced in public: it will acquit or condemn the accused. The various parties to the trial will, if need be, be able to appeal the decision before the Appeals Chamber of the Court.

Further information on the case The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo can be found here.

Audio and video summaries of the press conference and opening statements (audio: floor channel only), will be available later in the afternoon on 22 and 23 November. The French-language radio and television programme “In the Courtroom” will be available for downloading and on ICC YouTube channel on Wednesday, 24 November, in the afternoon.

Web streaming of the opening of the trial

The hearings will be held in open session unless ordered otherwise. The proceedings can be followed with a 30-minute delay on the ICC website at:

Courtroom I:

English: http://livestream.xs4all.nl/icc1.asx

French: http://livestream.xs4all.nl/icc2.asx

Satellite broadcast

The press conference on 22 November and the hearings on 22 and 23 November will be broadcast through Eurovision, free of rights and free of charge in Europe (W3A) and Africa (CFI platform). Information on frequencies and updates can be found here.

Media Centre

The Court’s Media Centre will open at 8:30 a.m. and will close one hour after the hearing adjourns.

The area can seat up to 64 people and includes plasma TV screens; a Wi-Fi Internet service; cards (plug + play) for those without Wi-Fi capability in their PC or laptop; 6 computers with Internet access; and 7 telephones that may be used free of charge for internal calls. For external calls, journalists are advised to use their mobiles or purchase 0800 pre-paid phone cards beforehand. Such cards are available at newsagents and train stations.

Please note that phone cards cannot be obtained in the vicinity of, or at, the ICC. Mobile phones cannot be used in the public gallery.

Recording facilities

The Court will provide feed from the Press Briefing room and from Courtroom I to the hot-desk area of the Media Centre. The tables in the Media Centre contain plugs for the video and audio feed from the courtroom (4:3, PAL): BNC video output and XLR audio output. You can record from three possible audio channels: 1 - floor, 2 - French and 3 - English. Each table contains an audio plug. If you need to record on two channels, please use another plug at another table for the second channel.

Please note that, in the Press Briefing room, audio breakout boxes will be available for the language being used (“Floor”), as well as English and French. XLR connections are used for the audio, and the distance from the breakout box to the camera location is approximately 15 meters. The ICC does not have spare cables available for the crews.

Feed for the SNG trucks

SNG trucks can record the signal from Courtroom I from the distribution box placed in the car park located at the intersection of Regulusweg and Wegastraat, to which they have access. Please note that there is no power supply available at the car park and that it is therefore necessary to have a generator.

Photography

Please note that it will not be possible to take photos in the courtroom before the start of the proceedings. However, the Court will provide to all those currently subscribing to receive ICC press releases a link to a selection of high resolution digital photos taken by the photographer (agency pool) during the hearing.

Parking facilities

Parking facilities are available for media representatives at the Regulusweg and Wegastraat car parks.

For information related to audio-visual matters, please contact Violeta Willemsen-Curcic, Producer, at + 31 70 515 8422 or at [email protected]

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Associate Legal Outreach Officer, on +31 (0)70 515-9152 or at [email protected]

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