Jean-Pierre Bemba was on Friday acquited of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He had been convicted and sent to 18 years in prison in 2016. However, the new ruling overturned this conviction, with the judge stating that Bemba ‘cannot be held responsible for [fighters’] actions.’
The former vice president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was arrested by Belgium in 2008 for his participation in the 2002 attempt to quell a coup in the Central African Republic (CAR)
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In 2002, the then CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé, had invited Bemba, who was the Movement of Liberation of the Congo (MLC) President and Commander-in-Chief, to the country to prevent a coup. Bemba sent more than 1000 fighters to help stop the coup.
What followed was a rampage of murder, rape and pillaging against civilians throughout the CAR.
The attempt to stop the coup was unsuccessful as Patasse was ousted in 2003 by François Bozizé, who went on to rule until 2013 when he was ousted in another coup, which is another case at the ICC.
But what exactly was Bemba accused of?
Scroll through for the crimes that saw Bemba at the ICC for the last few years.
