The formal vice president of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba was sentenced to additional one year in prison by the International Criminal Court in Hague. According to the information our correspondent gathered, the International Criminal Court found the formal Congolese vice president guilty of manipulating and bribing at least 14 witnesses during his last year (2016) war crimes trial before the International Criminal Court . The presiding judge in Hague (Bertram Schmitt ) handed him additional one year in jail and a fine of 300,000 euros. Four of Bemba’s associates were also sentenced for the same offence including his lawyer (Aime Kilolo) who received the heaviest sentence (received two years and six months for “abuse of trust and abuse of the lawyer-client privilege”, he was also ordered to pay a fine of 30,000 euro). Jean-Pierre Bemba’s legal case manager (Jean-Jacques Mangenda) was handed two years, a defence witness (Narcisse Arido) received 11 months and Fidele Babala (Congolese lawmaker) was sentenced to six months in prison by ICC. Ex-vice president Bemba’s additional year sentence will run consecutively to his 18 years’ jail time. The Congolese warlord Bemba was sentenced in June 2016 to 18 years in prison on five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity which he committed when he sent his troops on a rampage in neighbouring CAR between October 2002 to March 2003. He lost presidential election to Kabila in 2006 and fled to Europe (Brussels) where he was arrested and handed over to the ICC in 2008.
Source: Viewers Corner News.