Jean-Pierre Bemba



Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (born 4 November 1962) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 17 July 2003 to December 2006. Bemba also leads the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), a rebel group turned political party. He received the second-highest number of votes in the 2006 presidential election. In January 2007 he was elected to the Senate.

He was arrested near Brussels on 24 May 2008 on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. He was originally charged with three counts of crimes against humanity and five counts of war crimes committed by fighters under his command, in October 2010 the ICC reduced the charges to two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes.

On 21 March 2016, he was convicted on these charges. On 21 June 2016, he was imprisoned on an 18-year sentence in landmark conviction at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and sexual violence. On 28 September 2016, he appealed his conviction alleging a mistrial and citing errors in the trial chamber's analysis of his superior responsibility. His 2016 war crimes convictions were overturned following an appeal on 8 June 2018; however, in September, he lost his appeal against his conviction for witness tampering. He was released in June 2018, and returned to the DRC, where he was running for President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 2018 election, where he was considered to be the strongest opposition candidate. However, he could be barred from the election because, under the laws of the DRC, individuals found guilty of corruption are prohibited from running for president. He has stated that he is willing to back another opposition candidate.