DRC's Ministry Announces Appointment Of Ex-War Crimes Convict As Country's Defense Chief

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published March 24, 2023 | 08:50 PM

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo has been appointed as the defense minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country's ministry of communications and media said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2023) Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo has been appointed as the defense minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country's ministry of communications and media said on Friday.

"Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is appointed the Minister of Defense and Veterans," the ministry said on Twitter.

Bemba was previously charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In March 2017, the ICC sentenced him to 18 years in prison for committing war crimes during the conflict in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003.

The court ruled that the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo headed by Bemba committed atrocities against civilians in the neighboring country. Later, the court added another year to the sentence for bribery of witnesses.

The ICC reportedly dropped the charges against Bemba, who returned to the DRC in 2018 after having spent most of the previous decade in custody.

The current reshuffle in the government is taking place nine months before the country's presidential election, which is scheduled for December 20, 2023.