Convicted Congo warlord, Lubanga, seeks ICC release to study conflict

Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga wants to be released from prison early to study the causes of ethnic conflict, he has told the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
He has been held by the ICC at The Hague since 2006
Lubanga, who led one side during fighting between two Congolese communities, was the first person to be convicted by the ICC, in 2012.
He was sentenced to 14 years for using child soldiers and raping girls.
He is eligible for release after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
He has been in custody since being arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2005.

Read also: Gbagbo’s wife, son bag 25 years jail time

Lubanga told the hearing at The Hague that he wanted to return to DR Congo and pursue a doctoral thesis in the city of Kisangani, to identify a new form of sociology to help “tribal groups to live together in harmony”.
He led a militia in the gold-rich Ituri region of DR Congo during a conflict between the Hema and Lendu communities, in which an estimated 50,000 people died and hundreds of thousands were made homeless.
Prosecutors objected to his request, saying he had allegedly been interfering with witnesses in another case linked to the conflict in DR Congo.

The judges did not say when they would issue their decision.

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