By RFIPalled on 26-09-2019Modified on 26-09-2019 at 01:41

The judges of the International Criminal Court have postponed until 11 October the hearing of the final conclusions in the impeachment proceedings of Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona and Alfred Yekatom.

With our correspondent in The Hague , Stéphanie Maupas

Opened on September 19 , the whole issue of these hearings for the prosecutor is to convince the judges to bring to trial the two suspects of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2013 and 2014 in the Central African Republic.

The judges should have heard the final submissions on Friday but finally postponed the two-week hearing, leaving time for the prosecution. This postponement will therefore give the prosecutor time to perfect a file seriously weakened by the lawyers of Patrice Ngaïssona and Alfred Yekatom.

In addition to several factual errors in the Central African Republic, which have also provoked criticism from Central African NGOs in The Hague, the prosecution's evidence has been widely disputed. Which is not a surprise in itself. But in this case, the lawyers of the two former anti-balaka leaders have made rather eloquent arguments.

The prosecutor asserted, for example, that Patrice Ngaissona participated in several meetings in Cameroon and Paris to prepare a plan to regain power. His lawyers assured that he did not yet have any visa to go to the French capital at the date advanced by the prosecutor.

At the request of the judges, the prosecution will have to submit a written and detailed response to the arguments of the defense lawyers. After that, new hearings will be organized on October 11th. The judges will then have 60 days to deliberate and decide whether or not to dismiss the two suspects on trial.

    On the same subject

    Before the ICC, Ngaïssona's lawyers paint a portrait of a "man of peace"

    Yekatom-Ngaissona trial: the fate of former child soldiers before the ICC

    RCA: ICC looks into charges against Ngaïssona and Yekatom

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