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ICC jails Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga for 14 yrs
International Criminal Court sentenced Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga to 14 years in jail for recruiting child soldiers.
Zeenews Bureau
Congo: A decade after being setup, International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday handed down its first sentence to Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga by imprisoning him for 14 years in jail after he was found guilty of recruiting child soldiers.
In March this year, the ICC found Lubanga guilty of abducting minor boys and girls, mostly under the age of 15, and recruiting them as child soldiers during fighting in Congo’s eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003. The sentence was given after Presiding judge Adrian Fulford criticized the ICC`s founding prosecutor.
However, Lubanga has to only serve eight more years of his sentence as he has already spent six years in detention during the trial. Lubanga was arrested in March 2005 by UN peacekeepers.
The 51-year-old Lubanga is the first person convicted by the 10-year-old permanent war crimes tribunal.
With Agencies Inputs
Congo: A decade after being setup, International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday handed down its first sentence to Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga by imprisoning him for 14 years in jail after he was found guilty of recruiting child soldiers.
In March this year, the ICC found Lubanga guilty of abducting minor boys and girls, mostly under the age of 15, and recruiting them as child soldiers during fighting in Congo’s eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003. The sentence was given after Presiding judge Adrian Fulford criticized the ICC`s founding prosecutor.
However, Lubanga has to only serve eight more years of his sentence as he has already spent six years in detention during the trial. Lubanga was arrested in March 2005 by UN peacekeepers.
The 51-year-old Lubanga is the first person convicted by the 10-year-old permanent war crimes tribunal.
With Agencies Inputs