Former Congolese militia leader Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui has been acquitted by the International Criminal Court of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The case related to the 2003 killings of 200 residents of Bogoro village in the mineral-rich Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The court in the Hague heard reports of victims being burned alive, babies smashed against walls and women raped.
Mr Ngudjolo denied ordering the attack, saying he learned of it days later. He had been charged with seven counts of war crimes and three of crimes against humanity. Prosecutors said he had enlisted child soldiers to carry out the killings. Some of the killings were carried out with machetes.
But presiding Judge Bruno Cotte said the court acquitted Mr Ngudjolo of all charges, saying the prosecution had “not proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui was responsible” for the crimes committed.
He said the decision was unanimous, and that witness testimony had been “too contradictory and too hazy”.
In its summary, the court stressed that the ruling does not mean it believes no crimes were committed in Bogoro “nor does it question what the people of this community have suffered on that day”. “The chamber also emphasised that the fact of deciding that an accused is not guilty does not necessarily mean that the chamber finds him innocent,” the ICC said in a statement. “Such a decision simply demonstrates that, given the standard of proof, the evidence presented to support his guilt has not allowed the chamber to form a conviction ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.” Judge Cotte ordered Ngudjolo’s immediate release, but prosecutor Fatou Besnouda said she intended to launch an appeal. A verdict on whether he should be kept in custody is expected later on Tuesday, and any hearing will be held in 2013.
