It is alleged that the suspects were part of a network for the purposes of presenting false or forged documents and bribing certain persons to give false testimony in the case against Bemba, whose trial started in November 2010.

 

The four men, arrested Sunday and Saturday following a warrant issued on November 20 by Judge Cuno Tarfusser, include Bemba\'s Lead Counsel Aimé Kilolo Musamba taken into custody by the Belgian authorities, and Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, a member of Bemba\'sdefence team and case manager, who was arrested in the Netherlands.

 

The two other men are Fidèle Babala Wandu, a member of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Parliament and Deputy Secretary General of the Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo - who was taken into custody in the DRC - and Narcisse Arido, a Defence witness, who was arrested by French authorities.

 

“On behalf of the Court, the Registrar of the ICC, Herman von Hebel, expressed his gratitude to the States\' authorities for their cooperation,” the ICC said, adding that these are the first arrests made in relation to such charges before the Court.

 

Bemba is the alleged President and Commander-in-Chief of the Mouvement de libération du Congo being tried for two counts of crimes against humanity (rape and murder) and three counts of war crimes (rape, murder and pillaging) allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR).

 

Established by the Rome Statute of 1998, the ICC can try cases involving individuals charged with war crimes committed since July 2002. 

 

The UN Security Council, the ICC Prosecutor or a State Party to the court can initiate any proceedings, and the ICC only acts when countries themselves are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute.