Jean-Pierre Bemba

On 1 August 2018, Jean-Pierre Bemba returned to DR Congo from prison to run for president. Bemba attempted to run for President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 2018 election, and was considered to be the strongest opposition candidate. After being reviewed by the country's Independent National Electoral Commission, he was barred from running but threw his political support behind candidate Martin Fayulu, who went on to lose the election to Félix Tshisekedi.

On 4 May 2017 he had also filed an appeal against his conviction for interfering with witnesses, alleging factual and legal errors on the part of the trial chamber, and illegal investigative activity by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. On 1 August 2018, Bemba returned to the DRC after 11 years of exile and imprisonment.

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.

On 21 March 2016, he was convicted on two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes. This marked the first time the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted someone of sexual violence.

On 21 June 2016, the ICC sentenced Bemba to 18 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC). In March 2017 he was sentenced to an extra year in prison and fined 300,000 euros ($324,000) by the ICC for interfering with witnesses in his trial.

On 28 September 2016, Bemba served the ICC appeals chamber with an appeal against his 18-year conviction citing numerous procedural and legal errors in the judgment, and alleging a mistrial. This conviction was overturned on 8 June 2018 by Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert. She said he cannot be held responsible for the actions of his men, and that the lower court "ignored significant testimonial evidence that Bemba's ability to investigate and punish crimes in the CAR was limited".

The trial of Bemba began on 22 November 2010 and lasted four years. The prosecutor was Fatou Bensouda. Two more years passed before the verdict was given.

On 15 June 2009, an ICC pre-trial chamber confirmed some of the charges against Bemba and committed him to trial. However, the judges did not find that there was sufficient evidence to try him for torture and outrages upon personal dignity. On 8 July 2009, Bemba was granted a temporary release to attend his father's funeral in Brussels.

On 2 December 2009 the ICC ruled that Bemba was a flight risk and must remain in custody until his trial.

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.

In a March 2008 interview, Bemba said that he was in "forced exile" and that it seemed the government was moving towards a dictatorship.

On 23 May 2008, a pre-trial chamber of the ICC found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Bemba bore individual criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic between 26 October 2002 and 15 March 2003, and issued a sealed warrant for his arrest. He was charged with three counts of war crimes (murder, rape, pillaging) and two counts of crimes against humanity (murder and rape).

On 24 May 2008, Bemba was arrested near Brussels. He was handed over to the ICC on 3 July 2008 and transferred to its detention centre in the Hague. He was the only person arrested in connection with the ICC's investigation in the Central African Republic. The Supreme Court of the Central African Republic found no basis to pursue cases against Bemba and former CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé.

A further attempt on Bemba's life in March 2007 led to an outbreak of fighting near Bemba's residence. A number of soldiers and civilians were reported killed. Bemba called for a ceasefire and negotiations and took refuge in the South African embassy. As fighting continued on 23 March, it was announced that a warrant for Bemba's arrest had been issued, accusing him of high treason. Although Bemba enjoyed immunity as a senator, the country's chief prosecutor said that he would ask parliament to remove it.

It was announced on 7 September that Bemba had met with National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe in Portugal to discuss his potential return. In November 2007, he visited Belgium and met with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht on 5 November.

In March 2003, Central African president Ange-Félix Patassé was ousted, and the government that replaced him pressed charges against Patassé and Bemba in September 2004. International arrest warrants were issued, but because the new government was unable to have Bemba arrested, the matter was referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). On 22 May 2007, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo decided to open investigations into crimes committed in the Central African Republic.

Bemba was born in Bokada, Nord-Ubangi. His father, Jeannot Bemba Saolona, was a businessman who was successful under Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, and one of his sisters is married to Mobutu's son Nzanga, who was also a candidate in the 2006 presidential election.

Bemba was one of 33 candidates who ran in the Congolese presidential election on 30 July 2006. His main campaign slogan — "One Hundred Percent Congolese" — was widely perceived as an attack on frontrunner President Joseph Kabila.

On 21 August 2006, while accompanied by 14 ambassadors of CIAT members (International Committee in charge of the Transition), including ambassadors from the United States of America, Britain, France (Bernard Prévost) and Belgium (Johan Swinnen [de] ), and from MONUC, US diplomat William L. Swing, Bemba survived an assassination attempt by the Presidential Guard bombing his residence in Gombe. The ambassadors were forced to seek refuge in a cellar. Kabila and Bemba faced each other in a second round, held on 29 October. The electoral commission announced the official results on 15 November, naming Kabila the winner with 58.05% of the vote; Bemba's supporters have alleged fraud.

On 27 November 2006, the Supreme Court of the DRC rejected the fraud charges brought by Bemba, and confirmed Kabila as the new elected Congolese President. A day later, Bemba said that he disagreed with the court's decision, but that "in the greater national interest and to preserve peace and to save the country from chaos and violence", he would participate in the system by leading the political opposition. He did not attend Kabila's swearing-in ceremony on 6 December. On 8 December, the MLC announced that Bemba would run for a Senate seat from Kinshasa in the January 2007 senatorial election, and he succeeded in winning a seat.

In 2003 Bemba became vice-president under a peace deal.

In 2002, President Ange-Félix Patassé of the Central African Republic invited the MLC to come to his country and put down a coup attempt. Human rights activists accused MLC fighters of committing atrocities against civilians in the course of this conflict.

The MLC movement started in the Orientale Province of the DRC in 1998 at the beginning of the Second Congo War. Said Bemba of its founding: "I had identified the possibility of launching an armed movement. So I went looking for serious partners. There were two countries in the region that were interested but I chose to present my dossier to the Ugandans. They liked it and so I went in." Little by little, the movement moved into the Équateur province, and established a permanent base in Gbadolite. Like many of the rebel groups at the time, the MLC's goal was to take the capital of Kinshasa.

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.