THE HAGUE (AFP) — Former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba made his first appearance Friday before the International Criminal Court where he stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Bemba entered the courtroom flanked by security guards, waving at his wife and other family members in the packed public gallery.
Wearing a dark suit and striped tie, he took his seat quietly behind his legal team, where he sat with eyes downcast for most of the short proceedings in The Hague.
Asked by judge Fatoumata Dembele Diarra to introduce himself to the court, Bemba stated his name curtly and listed his occupation as "senator". He declined a reading of the charge sheet.
Bemba's lawyer, Aime Kilolo Musamba, objected to alleged violations in the execution of his client's arrest warrant, and Bemba complained about his holding conditions.
"The conditions aren't the best, not what I had hoped for..." he told the court.
The judge set November 4 as an initial date for the start of a hearing for the confirmation of charges.
Bemba is accused of a range of crimes allegedly committed by his men between 2002 and 2003, when his forces fought a coup attempt in the Central African Republic at the behest of then president Ange-Felix Patasse.
He faces five counts of war crimes and three of crimes against humanity, with specific charges including murder, rape and torture.
Bemba was transferred to the detention unit of the court on Thursday from Brussels, where he was arrested on an ICC warrant on May 24.
He is the court's fourth detainee behind fellow DR Congo militiamen Thomas Lubanga, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui and Germain Katanga.
In Bemba's arrest warrant, combatants of his Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) are alleged to have attacked the civilian population, committing rape and torture on "a systematic or widespread scale".
As commander-in-chief, the prosecution seeks to hold Bemba criminally responsible.
Bemba's lawyer, Musamba, said Thursday his client welcomed the chance to prove his innocence.
"This provides us with the opportunity to go to The Hague and present the elements of defence that we have which will help establish that Mr Bemba has no legal responsibility in this affair," he told AFP.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has welcomed Bemba's extradition to The Hague.
"Justice is coming for the victims, for the victims of the Central African Republic, for the victims of massive sexual violence worldwide," he said.
"This is a significant moment for Bemba's victims in Central Africa," said the Human Rights Watch's Geraldine Mattioli, who was present at Friday's proceedings.
"One hopes that the prosecution will expand the accusations to include crimes committed by the MLC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
A host of procedural matters will have to be settled before a trial date can be set.
This could take months or even years. Lubanga, the subject of the first case before the ICC, was transferred to the court in March 2006, but his trial has yet to start.
Bemba, 45, heads a vast business empire and had been living in exile in Portugal, where he fled under United Nations protection following a shoot-out with the presidential guard in Congo which killed more than 200 people in March 2007.
That followed defeat to his fierce rival and current DR Congo President Joseph Kabila in 2006 elections.
The ICC was set up six years ago as a permanent world court mandated to try war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
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