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ICC Orders Former Congolese Militia Leader's Release

   Lubanga  family  member  Sylvia  Dzbo  says the family hopes this time
   around Lubanga would be freed

   James Butty | Washington, D.C. 16 July 2010
   Thomas Lubanga

Photo: AP

   Former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga

   A family member of former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga said
   the family welcomes the news that Lubanga has been ordered released.

   The  International  Criminal  Court  (ICC) ruled Thursday that Lubanga
   should  be  freed  without condition unless prosecutors can appeal the
   ruling.

   The  ICC in The Hague July 8 ordered the suspension of Lubangaās trial
   because  prosecutors refused to give his defense lawyers the name of a
   person connected with the case.

   Lubanga family member Sylvia Dzbo said the family hopes that this time
   around Lubanga would be freed.

   āHere,  we are very happy about the news, but our main concern is that
   itās  not the first time that they have said they will release him. If
   they  say  he  will be freed and go anywhere he wants, then we can say
   yes we win this war because we believe he is innocent about everything
   that they say,ā Dzbo said.

   The ICC in its ruling Thursday reportedly said Lubanga would remain in
   jail  for  at  least  another five days to give the prosecutor time to
   file an appeal against the decision to release Lubanga.

   The judges have given the prosecution five days to appeal, after which
   Lubanga could be set free.

   Dzbo  expressed  cautious  optimism  that this time around Mr. Lubanga
   will be released.

   āThe  last  time it was the same scenario. They said he would be freed
   and  in the last minute the prosecutor appealed and then they kept him
   there.  But  still that time until now there was no proof. I think now
   is  the real time, and I think now he will be released for good,ā Dzbo
   said.

   Displaced Congolese children

   Lubanga  has  pleaded  not  guilty  to  charges he used child soldiers
   during fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo a decade ago.

   She  said  Prosecutor  Luis  Moreno-Ocampoās  refusal  to give Lubanga
   defense  lawyers  the  name of a person connected with the case proves
   the prosecutor has no evidence against Lubanga.

   āThis  is  something  we  donāt understand because he (the prosecutor)
   should  give us his name (the Lubanga intermediary). Whatās wrong with
   that prosecutor? May be thereās something he didnāt tell us the truth.
   May  be itās personal. But I donāt think it can be personal because we
   donāt know him (the prosecutor),ā Dzbo said.

   Dzbo  reiterated  the Lubanga family belief that some of the testimony
   against Lubanga was coerced.

   āI invite you personally to come to (Bunia) and see, to ask people who
   donāt  know  Thomas Lubanga but people who were there when things were
   bad,ā Dzbo said.

   She  said  the  Lubanga  case  should  serve  as  example  to  the ICC
   prosecutor to not rush to judgment.

   āI  think  before you take someone there (to the ICC), to put his name
   on  the spot to say everyone this guy is a criminal, I think before to
   do  that  you  have to be careful. You have to check every detail. You
   have to be 100 percent sure the guy is a bad guy,ā Dzbo said.

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