Int l Court sentences Ugandan to 25 years for war crimes
By MIKE CORDER Associated Press May 6, 2021 5:45am Text size Copy shortlink:
THE HAGUE, Netherlands The International Criminal Court sentenced a Ugandan former child soldier who turned into a brutal rebel commander to 25 years imprisonment Thursday, with judges saying that his own abduction as a schoolboy and history as a child soldier prevented him being sentenced to life.
Dominic Ongwen was convicted in February of a total of 61 war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, rape, forced marriage, forced pregnancy and using child soldiers as a commander in the shadowy Lord s Resistance Army. His lawyers have said they will ap
ICC sentences former Ugandan child soldier Dominic Ongwen to 25 years in prison
He was found guilty for a total of 61 crimes comprising crimes against humanity and war crimes. 2 min read
The International Criminal Court has sentenced Dominic Ongwen to 25 years of imprisonment. He was found guilty of a total of 61 crimes comprising crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Following the
trial judgmentThursday, Mr Ongwen was convicted for the crimes he committed in Northern Uganda between July 1, 2002, and December 31, 2005, a statement by the court read.
Mr Ongwen had been held in custody for six years (from January 2015 till date). This will be deducted from the total time of imprisonment imposed on him, the statement noted. The sentence can also be appealed.
FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016 file photo, Dominic Ongwen, a senior commander in the Lord s Resistance Army, whose fugitive leader Kony is one of the world s most-wanted war crimes suspects, is flanked by two security guards as he sits in the court room of the International Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Ongwen was convicted in February, 2021 of a total of 61 war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, rape, forced marriage, forced pregnancy and using child soldiers. His lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool, File)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Criminal Court has sentenced a Ugandan former child soldier who turned into a brutal rebel commander to 25 years’ imprisonment, with judges saying that his own abduction as a schoolboy and history as a child soldier prevented him being sentenced to life.
Int l Court sentences Ugandan to 25 years for war crimes
Sign In
MIKE CORDER, Associated Press
FacebookTwitterEmail
FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016 file photo, Dominic Ongwen, a senior commander in the Lord s Resistance Army, whose fugitive leader Kony is one of the world s most-wanted war crimes suspects, is flanked by two security guards as he sits in the court room of the International Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Ongwen was convicted in February, 2021 of a total of 61 war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, rape, forced marriage, forced pregnancy and using child soldiers. His lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction.Peter Dejong/AP
Updated / Thursday, 6 May 2021
11:06
Dominic Ongwen was convicted in February of 61 crimes
Judges at the International Criminal Court have sentenced a former Ugandan child soldier who became a commander of the rebel Lord s Resistance Army to 25 years in prison.
Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt said the panel of judges had considered sentencing Ongwen to life imprisonment, the court s harshest punishment, but had sided against it due to the defendant s own personal suffering.
Led by fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, the LRA terrorised Ugandans for nearly 20 years as it battled the government of President Yoweri Museveni from bases in northern Uganda and neighbouring countries. It has now largely been wiped out.