Lawyers say ICC suspect Jerbo killed in Darfur

The defense team of Saleh Mohammed Jerbo, an alleged war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), claims he was killed last Friday in North Darfur. “The Defense of Mr Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus hereby notifies the trial chamber, with great sadness … that Mr Jerbo died in North Darfur, Sudan on the afternoon of 19 April 2013, and was buried the same day”, an ICC document published on Tuesday read. Jerbo, who was also the deputy general commander of the JEM-Bashar faction, was allegedly killed by JEM, the court’s document indicated. JEM-Bashar, led by Mohamed Bashar Ahmed, broke away from JEM last year and signed a peace treaty with the Sudanese government earlier this month. JEM claims not having any links with Bashar’s faction. For his part, JEM Spokesman Jibril Adam Bilal said his movement was “not able to confirm or deny” the death of Jerbo. He said on Friday that his forces were still “chasing” Bashar’s faction but that Jerbo was not among the captured. Jerbo was indicted by the ICC for supposedly killing 12 UNAMID peacekeepers in 2007. Together with an accomplice, they are suspected of leading 1,000 rebels in an attack on an UNAMID compound in Haskanita, Sudan. ICC had set their trial for 5 May 2014 and BBC reported that the court must get proof of his death before the case is dropped. “In accordance with the principle of the presumption of innocence enshrined in Article 66 of the Rome Statute, the Defense note that Mr Jerbo died an innocent man”, the court stated.ICC photo file: Defense lawyer Karim Khan (left), Abdallah Banda (center) and Saleh Jerbo (right)Related: ICC suspect, JEM-Bashar deputy presumably killed in Darfur (22 April 2013)