The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former vice president and rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for bribing witnesses during his war crimes trial.
In a ruling on Monday, The Hague-based court handed Bemba a 12 month sentence and a 300,000 euros ($350,000) fine for tampering with witnesses in an earlier hearing over possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by fighters he sent to suppress a coup in neighbouring Central African Republic between October 2002 and 2003.
ICC Judge Bertram Schmitt said the ruling would provide a “cautionary example as to what consequences obstructing the administration of justice can have”.
“Mr. Bemba’s acquittal in the main case should have been the end of his exposure to the court, yet he continues to have the spectre of this institution hanging over him,” Schmitt said.
He will not return to jail because of the sentence, having served time after being found guilty following the war crimes case in 2016. Bemba, who had been in ICC detention since 2008, was acquitted on appeal in June.
Election uncertainty
After a decade in prison, Bemba returned to the DRC on August 1 to submit his candidacy for the country’s December 23 presidential election.
But the 55-year-old, a popular opposition leader, was barred on September 3 from standing because of the conviction for witness tampering.
According to DRC law, those found guilty of corruption are prohibited from running for president.
Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker, reporting from Brussels, said it was “very unclear” what action Bemba will take following the ruling.
“Bemba could well get on a plane and go back to Kinshasa [the DRC’s capital], in theory there is nothing to stop him from doing that,” Barker said.
“He has hoped ever since the initial charges against him were quashed in June that he was going to be able to launch a presidential campaign to be able to one day lead the country.”
The DRC’s election commission is expected to publish a final list of candidates for the presidential election on September 19.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
