ICC/GBAGBOFormer president to appeal: The defence team for former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday asked the ICC for leave to appeal the confirmation of charges against him. On June 12, an ICC pre-trial chamber handed down a majority decision confirming four crimes against humanity charges (murder, rape, other inhumane acts or – in the alternative --attempted murder, and persecution) against the former Ivorian head of state. After receiving the French version of the decision, the ex-president filed his request on July 29, in accordance with the deadline set him. Under the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, the defence cannot file an appeal directly but must first request authorization from the chamber that handed down the decision.
RWANDAAppeals judgment postponed for an ex-senator: A Rwandan court postponed to September 9 its appeals judgment in the case of a former senator who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the lower court for participation in the 1994 genocide. Its decision was originally due to be handed down on July 31, but was not yet ready, according to the court. According to the lower court Anastase Nzirasanaho, an agricultural engineer by training, distributed arms in 1994 which were used to kill Tutsis in his native district of Mataba, in the former Ruhengeri prefecture of northern Rwanda. He has always protested his innocence.
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