This week at the International Criminal Court has been rich in – mostly symbolic – important events: the confirmation of the acquittal of former Ivorian President Laurent Ggbagbo, the confirmation of the conviction of Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda, and the distribution of a symbolic one euro reparation in the case of the jihadist Al-Mahdi by the Trust Fund for Victims to the community of Timbuktu, Mali. In this new podcast, our partners from Asymmetrical Haircuts help us deciphering, in particular, the Ntaganda ruling with Rosemary Grey, lecturer at Sydney Law School and Elies van Sliedregt, professor at Leeds Law School.
It’s been a busy week at the International Criminal Court where appeals judges ruled on two cases. They confirmed both the conviction and 30-year-setence for Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda and the acquittal of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and his ally Charles Blé Goudé.
With both the longest sentence in the ICC confirmed and its highest ranking accused so far definitively set free, Janet and Stephanie caught up with each other at the ICC media centre to talk through the rulings.
To help us clear up some of the finer points of the Ntaganda ruling and the impact his definitive conviction has on the jurisprudence of sexual crimes at the court, Janet spoke with Rosemary Grey , lecturer at Sydney Law School.
We also called on Elies van Sliedregt , professor at Leeds Law School – who keen listeners will know from Episode 15, our deep dive into modes of liability – to talk about the vexed subject of indirect co-perpetration which has come up in many cases, including Ntaganda.
After a short detour to Mali where the Trust Fund for Victims held a ceremony for symbolic reparations for victims in Timbuktu, Janet and Stephanie turn finally to the Gbagbo case which ended with extremely critical remarks against the prosecution.
ASYMMETRICAL HAIRCUTS
This podcast has been published as part of a partnership between JusticeInfo.net and Asymmetrical Haircuts, a podcast on international justice produced from The Hague by journalists Janet Anderson and Stephanie van den Berg, who retain full control and independence over the contents of the podcast.