The former leader of a Congolese militia has been acquitted By the International Criminal Court, who had charged him with 7 counts of war crimes and 3 counts of crimes against humanities.
Judge Bruno Cotte told the court that Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui will be acquitted of all charges, as the prosecution had "not proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui was responsible" for the massacre of 200 villagers in 2003.
He said the decision was unanimous, and that witness testimony had been "too contradictory and too hazy".
In a statement the ICC said that the judgement does not necessarily mean Mr Ngudjolo is innocent.
"The chamber also emphasised that the fact of deciding that an accused is not guilty does not necessarily mean that the chamber finds him innocent,
"Such a decision simply demonstrates that, given the standard of proof, the evidence presented to support his guilt has not allowed the chamber to form a conviction 'beyond reasonable doubt'," said the statement.
The international justice advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, said that justice must be served, as the verdict "leaves the victims of Bogoro and other massacres by his forces without justice for their suffering".
"The ICC prosecutor needs to strengthen its investigations of those responsible for grave crimes in Ituri, including high-ranking officials in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda who supported the armed groups fighting there," said Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner.
