CONGOLESE war crimes suspect Bosco Ntaganda has made his first appearance before the International Criminal Court, telling a judge he was innocent of charges ranging from murder and rape to using child soldiers.
The man known as The Terminator appeared on Tuesday with a shaved head, thin moustache and wearing a black suit and dark blue tie after arriving in The Hague on Friday following his surprise surrender in Rwanda.
"My name is Bosco Ntaganda, I only have the two names, the names given to me by my parents," he said when presiding judge Ekaterina Trendafilova asked him to identify himself.
"As you know, I was a soldier in the Congo," he said. "I was born in Rwanda but I grew up in the Congo. I am Congolese."
"I was informed of these crimes but I plead not guilty," Ntaganda said before Trendafilova cut him short.
"I do not want to interrupt you. The purpose of the initial appearance is a very limited one," the judge said. "You will have ample opportunities to make your point as thoroughly and necessary to the chamber."
The judge set September 23 as the date for a hearing to confirm the charges against Ntaganda, who was allegedly involved in the murder of at least 800 people in villages in the volatile DR Congo's Ituri region.
During that hearing, prosecutors must convince the court's judges they have enough evidence to take him to trial.
Ntaganda reportedly walked into the US embassy in Kigali and asked to be sent to the ICC, possibly fearing for his life as a fugitive from former comrades.
The first ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed a decade ago when he was a warlord in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tuesday's brief appearance was to verify Ntaganda's identity, read the alleged crimes and his rights under the court's founding document, the Rome Statute.
Set up just over a decade ago, the ICC is the world's only permanent criminal court to try genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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