First Darfur trial postponed (Banda)

ICC judges have postponed the 5 May opening of the trial of Darfuri rebel leader Abdallah Banda due to logistical difficulties.

The trial is set to be first in the Darfur, Sudan situation.

ICC Trial Chamber IV will now decide on further steps following submissions from the prosecution and the registry.

Banda faces trial for war crimes allegedly committed on the evening of 29 September 2007 against the African Union peace-keeping mission in North Darfur, Sudan.

He appeared voluntarily before Court for the first time in June 2010, and has been living in Darfur since, communicating with the Court via his legal representatives.

However the trial has been delayed for several years due to the unavailability of translators and difficulties translating from and into the (oral) Zaghawa language.

In October last year, ICC judges ended the proceedings against his co-accused Saleg Mohammed Jerbo after finding there was evidence indicating he had been killed in a rebel attack in North Darfur in April 2013.

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