Charges vacated

The warrant of arrest was issued under seal against Simone Gbagbo on 29 February 2012, unsealed on 22 November 2012 and vacated on 19 July 2021. 

The arrest warrant for Alfred Yekatom was issued on 11 November 2018 and unsealed on 17 November 2018. He was surrendered to the ICC on 17 November 2018 and appeared for the first time before Pre-Trial Chamber II on 23 November 2018. The arrest warrant for Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona was issued on 7 December 2018. He was arrested by the authorities of the French Republic on 12 December 2018 and transferred to the ICC detention centre on 23 January 2019, upon completion of necessary national proceedings. His initial appearance before Pre-Trial Chamber II took place on 25 January 2019. On 20 February 2019, Pre-Trial Chamber II joined the Yekatom and Ngaïssona cases.

The confirmation of charges hearing was held on 19-25 September and 11 October 2019. On 11 December 2019, Pre-Trial Chamber II partially confirmed the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought by the Prosecutor against Mr Yekatom and Mr Ngaïssona and committed them to trial. 

On 11 March 2020, Pre-Trial Chamber II rejected the Prosecution's Request for Reconsideration of, or alternatively Leave to Appeal, the "Decision on the confirmation of charges against Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona", thereby concluding the proceedings in the case before that Chamber, and ordering the Registrar to transmit the Decision Confirming the Charges and the record of the proceedings to the ICC Presidency. This was done on 13 March 2020. On 16 March 2020, the Presidency constituted Trial Chamber V to be in charge of this case and is composed of Judge Bertram Schmitt, Judge Péter Kovács and Judge Chang-ho Chung.

The trial opened on 16 February 2021 before Trial Chamber V. The prosecution called 114 witnesses to testify. The Legal Representatives of Victims also called three witnesses to testify.

On 28 November 2023, the Defence for Mr  Yekatom made its opening statement. The Defence for Mr Ngaïssona had already presented its opening statement at the beginning of trial.

On 11 December 2023, the Defence started to present its witnesses. On 27 and 28 August 2024, the presentation of evidence of the Defence ended with an unsworn statement Mr. Ngaïssona.

The closing statements took place from 9 to 12 December 2024. Statements were made by the Office of the Prosecutor, the Legal Representatives of Victims, and the Defence, followed by questions from the Chamber.

On 13 and 16 December 2024, the parties and participants filed their submissions on potential sentencing. A hearing on potential sentencing was held on 8 and 9 January 2025.

On 24 July 2025, Trial Chamber V found Mr Ngaïssona and Mr Yekatom guilty of a number of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Bangui and the west of the Central African Republic between September 2013 and at least February 2014. On the same date, Trial Chamber V sentenced Mr Yekatom to 15 years of imprisonment and Mr Ngaïssona to 12 years of imprisonment. The time spent in detention will be deducted from their sentences.

Next steps: On 26 September 2025, the Defense of Mr Ngaïssona and of Mr Yekatom, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor, filed their notices of appeals against the judgment in the case. The Appeals Chamber will rule on these appeals in due course. The suspects remain in custody at the ICC detention centre.