Pre-Trial Chamber II issued a sealed arrest warrant for Bemba on November 20, 2013, which was unsealed on November 28, 2013. Charges were confirmed against him on November 11, 2014. His trial opened on September 29, 2015.

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo was found guilty on all three charges under Article 70 and was sentenced to one year imprisonment and a fine of EUR 300,000. On appeal, Mr. Bemba’s conviction was upheld in part but he was acquitted of the charge of presenting false or forged evidence under Article 70(1)(b), with the Appeals Chamber finding that provision of the statute only applied to presenting documentary evidence, not calling of witnesses (at issues in this case). The case was remanded for reconsideration of the sentence in light of the Trial Chamber’s failure to adequately assess the gravity of the offenses.

Mr. Bemba was re-sentenced on September 17, 2018, to one year imprisonment – with credit for prior detention, meaning the sentence  was deemed served – and a EUR 300,000 fine. The Appeals Chamber confirmed the re-sentencing decision, finding that the Trial Chamber acted within its discretion, did not err in law or fact, did not impose a disproportionate sentence, and did not violate Mr. Bemba’s rights.

After being acquitted in the main case (Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo), Mr. Bemba was released from ICC custody in 2018.

Pre-Trial Chamber III issued a sealed arrest warrant against Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo on May 23, 2008, which was unsealed on May 24, 2008. Mr. Bemba was arrested by Belgian authorities on May 24, 2008; however, upon the OTP’s  application and submission of new evidence, Pre-Trial Chamber III decided to issue a new arrest warrant (which alleged murder, rape, pillaging, and torture) on June 10, 2008, which replaced the May 23 arrest warrant (which alleged rape, pillaging, and torture). Mr. Bemba was transferred to ICC custody on July 3, 2008 and made his initial appearance before Pre-Trial Chamber III on July 4, 2008.

Pre-Trial Chamber II* confirmed the charges against Mr. Bemba on June 15, 2009. (*In March 2009, the ICC merged Pre-Trial Chamber III with Pre-Trial Chamber II and assigned the CAR situation to Pre-Trial Chamber II.)

On March 21, 2016, Trial Chamber III issued a verdict which found Mr. Bemba guilty of: murder (crime against humanity, war crime), rape (crime against humanity, war crime), and pillaging (war crime).

On June 21, 2016, Trial Chamber III ordered Mr. Bemba to serve concurrent sentences, with a deduction of time already spent in detention, of: 16 years of imprisonment for murder as a war crime; 16 years of imprisonment for murder as a crime against humanity; 18 years of imprisonment for rape as a war crime; 18 years of imprisonment for rape as a crime against humanity; and 16 years of imprisonment for pillaging as a war crime. 

On June 8, 2018, the Appeals Chamber acquitted(by majority) Mr. Bemba of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The majority found that Mr. Bemba had been improperly convicted of several criminal acts outside the “facts and circumstances described in the charges,” and that the Trial Chamber erred in its “assessment of whether Mr. Bemba failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures” to prevent or repress crimes by troops over which he had command responsibility.

Mr. Bemba’s convictionfor offenses against the administration of justice in the Bemba et al. case remains. Mr. Bemba was released from ICC custody in June 2018.

On May 18, 2020, Pre-Trial Chamber II rejected a claim for compensation and damages by Mr. Bemba, finding that Mr. Bemba “ failed to establish that he had suffered a grave and manifest miscarriage of justice” within the meaning of Article 85, and finding that allegations of mismanagement related to Mr. Bemba’s frozen assets fell outside the scope of of Article 85 and could not be considered by the Court’s legal framework.