A lawyer for fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony on Thursday asked the International Criminal Court to shelve a hearing in absentia against his client, saying it risked wasting "time and money."
Kony, 62, has been wanted by the Hague-based ICC since 2005 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity following a three-decade reign of terror by his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group across several African nations.
The ICC announced five months ago it would hold hearings in October to confirm 36 counts against Kony, whose current whereabouts are unknown.
Kony's court-appointed lawyer Peter Haynes asked pre-trial judges to "vacate the proceedings until such time that Mr Kony appears before the court" in person.
New request
Haynes, in a court document, said he agreed with ICC trial prosecutors who in 2015 said a hearing without Kony's presence "could be an enormous expense of time, money, effort for no benefit at all."
In March, ICC judges granted a new request by chief prosecutor Karim Khan for the confirmation hearings to start in Kony's absence.
Haynes also gave other reasons why the proceedings should be put on ice.
Legally an in-absentia hearing can only be held once a suspect has initially appeared in court, argued Haynes.
Not known if Kony is 'even alive'
"As Mr Kony has never appeared before the court, a hearing in his absence is legally impermissible under the ICC Statute," Haynes said in a statement.
It was also unknown whether Kony was "even alive" amid a "plethora of public reports" suggesting he had died.
Even if Kony were eventually found, he should be tried in a local court, Haynes said.
A Kampala court earlier this month convicted another former LRA commander, an example of the "ability of Ugandan courts to try international crimes", Haynes said.
Crimes against humanity
Thomas Kwoyelo was found guilty on 44 offences including murder, rape, torture, pillaging and abduction for his role in the rebel movement.
Former altar boy Kony founded the LRA in the 1980s with the aim of establishing a regime based on the Ten Commandments.
The group launched a rebellion against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni that spread to Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
It killed more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves, soldiers and porters.
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