The International Criminal Court ICC in The Hague has acquitted former Congolese militia leader Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hague /NationalTurk – Mr. Chui was facing trial of case related to the 2003 killings of 200 residents of Bogoro village in the mineral-rich Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He was charged with seven counts of war crimes and three of crimes against humanity which the Prosecutors stated that he had enlisted child soldiers to carry out the killings of which some of the killings were carried out with machetes, burning alive, babies smashed against walls and women raped.

The presiding Judge Bruno Cotte said the court acquitted Mr. Ngudjolo of all charges on the fact that the prosecution had not proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui was responsible for the crimes committed in 2003 in the village of Bogoro.

“Such a decision simply demonstrates that, given the standard of proof, the evidence presented to support his guilt has not allowed the chamber to form a conviction beyond reasonable doubt’’, the Judge stated.
But the court was quick to add that the ruling does not mean it believes no crimes were committed in Bogoro or does it question what the people of this community have suffered on that day.

“The chamber also emphasized that the fact of deciding that an accused is not guilty does not necessarily mean that the chamber finds him innocent,” the ICC said in a statement.

Mr. Ngudjolo has always maintained that he did not order the attack in the village in question and that he even learned of it days later after the incident.

The prosecutor However told the press that they are not happy with the ruling and will appeal against the ruling as soon as possible.

The conflict in Ituri Province was part of a war that raged in DR Congo following the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda and involved troops and fighters from several neighboring countries.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

[adrotate group=”14″]