The trial of the former M23 rebel commander, Bosco Ntaganda (also known as 'The Terminator') who is accused of committing mass atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been set for next year, reports AFP.
“The Trial Chamber scheduled the opening of the trial on June 2,” the International Criminal Court (ICC), said Friday.
A pre-trial hearing took place earlier this year, where Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor at the ICC, said Ntaganda had "played a key role in planning assaults against the civilian population in order to gain territory… He persecuted civilians on ethnic grounds, through deliberate attacks, forced displacement, murder, rape, sexual enslavement and pillaging."
Ntaganda faces 13 charges of war crimes and five relating to crimes against humanity. He was placed under ICC custody last year, after surrendering at the US embassy in Rwanda and asking to be sent to the Hague.
Ntaganda a former general in the Congolese Army, enjoyed protection from UN peacekeeping forces until April 2012, despite having an ICC warrant for his arrest issued in 2006.
Ntaganda remained at large, after defecting from the army in 2012, with hundreds of followers in a mutiny.
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