Bemba transferred to the Hague

BRUSSELS – Congolese former rebel warlord and vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba was being transferred from Belgium to the custody of the International Criminal Court in the Hague yesterday, a Belgian justice source said.

Bemba, the defeated contender in Democratic Republic of Congo’s 2006 presidential election, is accused by the ICC of leading Congolese rebels who waged a campaign of rape and torture in the Central African Republic during 2002/2003. “He is on his way,” the source said of Bemba, whose lawyers have mounted a series of challenges in Belgian courts to his arrest and transfer.Bemba will be held at the court’s detention centre in Scheveningen close to The Hague.The ICC has not announced a date for his initial appearance.Belgium’s Justice Ministry declined to comment.Nampa-Reuters”He is on his way,” the source said of Bemba, whose lawyers have mounted a series of challenges in Belgian courts to his arrest and transfer.Bemba will be held at the court’s detention centre in Scheveningen close to The Hague.The ICC has not announced a date for his initial appearance.Belgium’s Justice Ministry declined to comment.Nampa-Reuters