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[THE HAGUE, 29 January 2009] — The International Criminal Court will press on with the war crimes trial of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga on Friday despite an opening-day setback when a key witness retracted his testimony. "In order to ensure that this trial maintains momentum, we are of the view that we should continue with the evidence," Judge Adrian Fulford said Thursday after an adjournment for an investigation into witness protection. An alleged former child soldier, the prosecution's first witness in the ICC's maiden trial, retracted his evidence midstream Wednesday after telling the court he had been recruited by "Thomas Lubanga's soldiers" as a schoolboy. Pressed by a prosecutor on whether he had indeed attended a military training camp, he replied, "No." The prosecution then sought a delay of the trial for an investigation overnight into "concerns the witness has about protective measures ... what happens after he gives his testimony and returns home." On Thursday, Fulford announced that: "The evidence of this witness will be adjourned" since he was "not in an appropriate state to deal with the pressure". He said a probe into possible threats against the first witness and his family would be concluded by Monday. The judge also directed the prosecution and victim legal representatives to make submissions Friday about the risk of self-incrimination faced by witnesses who may face prosecution in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Victim representatives said this concern may have played a role in the witnesses' decision to change his testimony. The judge asked the prosecution to call a new witness on Friday. This witness, who is or was "in the military" according to the prosecution, has requested special protective measures. The prosecution has requested that his face and voice be distorted on screens in the public gallery, and that his name be withheld. Lubanga, 48, has pleaded not guilty to charges of recruiting hundreds of children under 15 to fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo's five-year civil war which ended in 2003. [Source: AFP]
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