Trial Chamber IX has declined to conditionally release Dominic Ongwen from the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention center while he awaits judgment.
Together with the issue of whether to conditionally release Ongwen, Trial Chamber IX asked the different legal teams to give their views on the separate matter of the communications restrictions imposed on Ongwen since June 2015.
In a June 8, 2015 order, the Single Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber II, Cuno Tarfusser, imposed temporary restrictions on Ongwen's non-privileged communications after there were suspicions he was trying to influence individuals who had "information relevant to the case."
Judge Tarfusser did not identify the individuals, but it later emerged during the trial that they were former "wives" of Ongwen.
In a June 24, 2015 decision related to the restrictions, Judge Tarfusser described, without naming names, how Ongwen was suspected to have tried to influence individuals the prosecution at the time described as "potential prosecution witnesses."
