Arabic version: المحكمة الجنائية الدولية تسحب التهم ضد عبد الله باندا

According to Allafrica, the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor formally announced the withdrawal of charges against Abdallah Banda Abakar Norain during a 21 July 2026 status conference. The decision followed years of reassessment that found the evidence no longer supported a reasonable prospect of conviction.

Banda, who had been a fugitive after failing to appear for trial in 2014, followed the hearing by video link from Khartoum. Charges were confirmed in 2011 over the 2007 attack on the African Union Mission in Sudan base at Haskanita, where peacekeepers were killed.

Prosecutors said the case had weakened substantially since the charges were confirmed. Two central witnesses, identified as P441 and P477, were dropped after credibility concerns: P441 was found to have engaged in dishonest conduct, while P477 declined to continue cooperating. Another witness, P512, gave an account that undercut the prosecution’s original theory.

Internal and external reviews completed in March and September 2023 concluded a conviction was unlikely, while two additional witnesses interviewed in late 2025 did not restore the case. The Chamber had rejected earlier withdrawal requests in October 2023 and March 2024, but authorized the withdrawal in June 2026 without prejudice to future proceedings on the same or similar facts.

Victims’ legal representatives said the decision could mark the end of nearly two decades of waiting for justice. The prosecution said the withdrawal did not lessen the seriousness of the alleged crimes or victims’ suffering, and said its wider Darfur work, including investigations into current crimes and other pending cases, continues.