On 24 July 2025, at 14:00 (Hague local time), the trial chamber (V) of the International Criminal Court will deliver its judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Rome Statute in the case The Prosecutor v. Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona.
The judgment will be read out in public in Courtroom 1, and the hearing will be transmitted live through the ICC website.
The accused persons before the ICC are presumed innocent.
While the prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused persons, the trial chamber will convict the accused only if it is satisfied that one or more charges against this accused person have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The chamber bases its decision solely on the applicable law and the evidence submitted and discussed before it during the trial. In response to the verdict, the parties will be able to appeal the decision before the ICC’s appeals chamber.
Trial Chamber V is composed of Judge Bertram Schmitt (presiding judge), Judge Péter Kovács, Judge Chang-ho Chung and Judge Beti Hohler (alternate judge). The judges ensure the fairness of the trial and that the rights of both parties and of the victims are respected.
Yekatom and Ngaïssona were accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic between December 2013 and December 2014.
The trial in this case opened on 16 February 2021.
The prosecution called 112 witnesses to testify. The legal representatives of the victims called three witnesses to testify. The defence teams for both accused called a total of 55 witnesses. The chamber called one witness.
On 27 and 28 August 2024, the defence presented its evidence with an unsworn statement from Ngaïssona. Prior to the holding of closing statements from December 9 to 12, 2024, the parties and participants filed their closing briefs.
On 13 and 16 December 2024, the parties and participants submitted their proposals regarding potential sentencing.
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