Global court may release first suspect

By Niclas Mika

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court might have to free its first suspect because abuses of procedure by prosecutors could make a fair trial impossible, the court said on Monday.

The trial of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga had been due to start on June 23, a historic step for the world's first permanent war crimes court in The Hague. But it was halted by the court.

It said prosecutors had abused a provision allowing them to keep some information confidential if it is not for use at trial but only used to search for evidence. It said prosecutors gathered a wide range of materials "under the cloak of confidentiality" and then planned to use that as evidence.

The court said the prosecution's actions meant "a significant body of exculpatory evidence which would otherwise have been disclosed to the accused is to be withheld from him".

"The consequence ... has been that the trial process has been ruptured to such a degree that it is now impossible to piece together the constituent elements of a fair trial," the court said.

"This is the exact opposite of the proper use of the provision," it said. "The prosecution's approach constitutes a wholesale and serious abuse."

It scheduled a hearing for June 24 to consider Lubanga's release.

Lubanga, who founded and led a militia in Congo's eastern Ituri district, was arrested in 2006 and is accused of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 from 2002 to 2003. He has denied the charges.