A Congolese militia leader facing war crimes charges for allegedly recruiting child soldiers could walk free in five days without standing trial.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced Wednesday that it had ordered the release of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Union des Patriotes Congolais, one of several groups involved in conflict in the eastern Congo between 1999 and 2003.
The order followed a finding last month that prosecutors failed to disclose documents to Lubanga's defence that might prove his innocence. However, the court suspended its release order for five days - the period allowed for an appeal against its decision.
Lubanga has been imprisoned at The Hague, the seat of the ICC. His trial would have been the first before the new court, established as part of an emerging international consensus that perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity should be held to account in a global forum when national courts are unable to deal with them.
Read the Court's Press Release
