The defense team of Dominic Ongwen , a former commander of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel outfit, have asked judges at the Hague based Inteernational Criminal Court (ICC)to change the schedule of hearings for June to accommodate Ongwen’s mental health needs.
According a statement by theInternational Justice Monitor, the lead defence lawyer, Krispus Ayena Odongo, said in a May 7th filing that he was making the request after the judges of Trial Chamber IX unexpectedly cancelled most of the hearings scheduled for May.
The canceled hearings were scheduled to take place on May 2 – 3 and between May 6 – 10.
Odongo said following the cancellation five days have been added to the June schedule of hearings. These are June 13 – 14; June 17 – 18; and June 20.
He said the trial had previously been set to continue between June 4 and June 7 and then take a break until June 24.
According to Odongo the new schedule which has no breaks negatively affects Ongwen’s health and limits preparation time thus he will be unable to consistently and effectively provide instructions to counsel.
“Although, the Defense does recognise that the Trial Chamber has accommodated the ICC-DC [Detention Center] Medical Officer’s recommendation that Ongwen does not sit in Court on Wednesdays, given that he is still mentally unstable, no break in between the witness blocks in June will cause him to suffer undue stress and adverse mental health effects,” Odongo said.
Ongwen is on trial for 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity he allegedly committed as a commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda between July 2002 and December 2005.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Ongwen has been on trial since December 2016.
Joseph Akwenyu Manoba and Francisco Cox, who represent one group of victims in the trial, asked Trial Chamber IX to dismiss the request of the defense. Manoba and Cox are formally referred to as Legal Representatives of Victims (LRV) in court filings.
“The LRVs submit that Defense assertions regarding the detrimental effect of the addition of 5 hearings days in June on Ongwen’s mental health are not supported by any concrete information and appear to be speculative,” said Manoba and Cox in their May 10th response to the defense request.
Ongwen’s mental health has been the subject of litigation and hearings since his lawyers issued a notice in August 2016 that they intended to present evidence that Ongwen suffered a mental defect or illness during the period he is alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity and therefore cannot be held responsible for those crimes.
His lawyers issued this notice under Article 31 of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding law.
This year, Trial Chamber IX has postponed hearings twice because Ongwen has needed medical care.
CN/abj/APA