DRC: ICC convicts to serve sentence in home country

Thomas Lubanga and Germain Katanga are the first ICC convicts to be allowed to serve sentences in their home country.

Transferred from the Netherlands, the two former Congolese militia leaders will now serve their prison terms in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The ICC says it will help supervise the imprisonment of former warlord Lubanga who is serving 14 years for his crimes and militia chief Katanga who is due to be released in 2016 in the DRC.

Read also: Convicted Congo warlord, Lubanga, seeks ICC release to study conflict

The court also revealed in a statement that both Lubanga and Katanga “have both expressed a preference to serve their respective prison terms in DRC, their country of origin”.

The ICC also informed that their detention in the DRC must conform to international norms on the treatment of prisoners.

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