Friday, August 14, 2009

Bemba to be bailed out

Former-Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba of the D.R. Congo, indicted and in custody on three counts of war crimes and two of crimes against humanity for the conduct of his Movement for the Liberation of Congo troops in an intervention into the Central African Republic in 2002, is eligible for conditional release... if a country can be found for him to bailed out to.

That may well be fair procedure, but it is a heck of a risk. The presumption is that he will neither flee nor "hamper court proceedings". Terms of his release are yet to be resolved:
The court said hearings to decide which country would take Mr Bemba and to decide on the conditions of his release would be held in the second week of September.
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For those not familiar with the mess that has been left in the C.A.R. after the Patasse government ran things into the ground, here's a recent report from IRIN about the continuing troubles in that country. Note that in addition to reporting the continuing internal strife there, IRIN cites the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) militancy (discussed here on several previous occasions) as also a threat to the people of the C.A.R.

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