[JURIST] Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Tuesday ordered [press release] former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and four members [ICC case materials] of his legal team to stand trial on charges of interfering with the administration of justice. Bemba and his team pleaded not guilty to allegations of bribing witnesses to provide false testimonies and of providing false evidence and testimony during Bemba’s trial [ICC case materials]. The ICC found that there was sufficient evidence to confirm that the suspects had committed these offenses. They did not confirm the prosecution’s charges of the submission of forged or false documents. The accused have been held [JURIST report] in an ICC detention center since last November. The court ordered the release [JURIST report] of the four members of Bemba’s legal team last month. Bemba remains in detention for proceedings in relation to the case brought against him. The ICC presidency has yet to announce the details of when the trial proceedings will take place.

The Jean-Pierre Bemba [JURIST news archive] case has been ongoing before the ICC since 2008. The ICC indicted [JURIST report] Bemba for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which were allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) between October 2002 and March 2003. Prosecutors claim he is responsible for rape, torture, outrages upon personal dignity and pillaging. Bemba’s arrest warrant is the first issued by the ICC in its investigation of large-scale sexual offenses in the CAR.