Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng, Presiding Judge in this appeal, read in open court a summary of the Appeals Chamber judgment. Judge Monageng explained that the Chamber examined the three grounds of appeal raised by the Prosecutor against the acquittal decision and that the majority of the Appeals Chamber judges, which includes herself, Judge Sang-Hyun Song and Judge Erkki Kourula, rejected the Prosecutor's appeal and concluded that:
Trial Chamber II did not err in its application of the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard. The factual findings, credibility assessments of witnesses and documentary evidence of the Trial Chamber which were challenged by the Prosecutor in relation to Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui's role in the attack on Bogoro were held to be not unreasonable.
In addition, the Appeals Chamber found that the Trial Chamber applied the correct approach in its decision-making process, taking into account the entirety of the evidence presented.
Under the third ground of appeal which dealt with allegations of witness tampering by Mr Ngudjolo Chui whilst he was in detention, the Appeals Chamber held, inter alia, that even though the Trial Chamber erred in refusing to allow the Prosecutor to use information gleaned from the recorded telephone conversations of Mr Ngudjolo Chui, to cross-examine Mr Ngudjolo Chui and two other key witnesses, this error did not materially affect the outcome of the acquittal decision.
For these reasons, the Appeals Chamber, by majority, rejected the three grounds of the Prosecutor's appeal and confirmed the acquittal of Mr Ngudjolo Chui.
