Are we heading for a dramatic change in the Maxime Mokom case before the International Criminal Court? Arrested in March on the basis of an arrest warrant issued four years earlier for crimes against humanity and war crimes, the Central African militiaman could soon be released on bail. In any case, this is what a decision of the judges handed down on November 7 suggests.
With our correspondent in The Hague, Stephanie Maupas
It is rather rare for judges to invite a detainee to ask for his release. But it must be said that the Mokom affair is now deadlocked. The impeachment hearings scheduled for the end of January will have to be postponed. Because for the moment, Maxime Mokom only has a lawyer on duty, who is responsible for current affairs.
The judges rejected the lawyer chosen by the anti-balaka militiaman, Nick Kaufman, seven months ago. For the judges, there would be a conflict of interest since this lawyer was also, in the past, the counsel of Nourredine Adam, one of the leaders of the Seleka, today on the run. All this was worth a long procedure. In this context, the judges had decided in July to make public the arrest warrant drawn up against Nourredine Adam.
Today, the matter is before the Appeals Chamber. But the decision is long in coming. This therefore aroused the impatience of the judges in charge of the indictment. Victims’ representatives have already announced that they would oppose the release of Maxime Mokom in the Central African Republic. They believe that the security situation there is “ extremely unstable “.
►Also read: Central African Republic: Maxime Mokom, leader of an anti-balaka armed group handed over to the ICC