International Criminal Court... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
for witness tampering in his war crimes trial.
"I understand the charges but I am very surprised," said Bemba during an initial hearing at the court in the Hague.
Bemba, his lawyer Aime Kilolo and his former private secretary Fidele Babala Wandu have been charged for allegedly being "part of a network for the purposes of presenting false or forged documents and bribing certain persons to give false testimony in the case against Mr. Bemba."
In that case, Bemba, 51, faces three war crimes counts and two of crimes against humanity for murder, rape and pillage committed by some 1,500 members of his private army in the neighboring CAR between October 2002 and March 2003.
Kilolo, who is Bemba's defense lawyer in the war crimes case, said he was "surprised at being deprived of my freedom while I spend most of my time at the Hague in the ICC buildings where I have my offices."
The lawyer was tossed in the slammer
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
at Brussels airport while Wandu was arrested in Kinshasa.
Two others -- a member of Bemba's defense team Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo and Narcisse Arido, a defense witness -- are also in jug.
The arrests were the first for witness tampering in a case tried by the ICC.