I sat in the gallery to watch his appearance – more poised and relaxed than any defendant I have seen in the ICC dock. The hearing itself was the usual formalities that go with a first appearance. The suspect gives his name, date of birth (he’s 46) and profession (“political commander”). The Judge – in this case Italian Judge Cuno Tarfusser – ensures the charges are read to him, as are all his rights.
Cuno Tarfusser set the date for the confirmation hearing – October 12, 2009. Before then, the Prosecution will have to disclose its evidence to the Defense, and there will be various scheduling hearings to keep the process on track. Abu Garda’s lawyer, Karim Khan, said his client waived his right to attend those interlocutory hearings, but had not yet decided whether to attend the Confirmation Hearing itself.
In case anyone is confused by the multiple stages of the ICC process, here’s a quick summary:
To get a suspect to appear before Court (either through an arrest warrant, or by issuing a summons to appear for those the Court believes may turn up voluntarily as Abu Garda did) the Judges must be convinced that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect committed the crimes. That is the stage that Abu Garda (and, for that matter, Omar al-Bashir) are at now. The charges will be confirmed at the next stage, the appropriately named Confirmation Hearing, if the Pre-Trial Chamber believes there are substantial grounds to believe the defendant commited the crimes he is charged with. After that, the case gets assigned to a Trial Chamber, and a trial goes forward, after which the defendant will be convicted if the Chamber finds beyound a reasonable doubt that he is guilty.
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