Angelina Jolie took time off from her films and inexorably growing brood of children, to attend the trial of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga in The Hague on Tuesday, May 19. Photo Credit: Splash NewsMay 19, 2009, (Sawf News) - Angelina Jolie took time off from her films and inexorably growing brood of children, to attend the trial of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga in The Hague on Tuesday, May 19.
Lubanga, founder and former leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots political movement, is charged with using child soldiers in tribal conflicts in 2002-2003. He has pleaded innocent.
Former child soldiers have traveled to The Hague to testify against Lubanga in the first international trial to focus on child soldiers.
"Children deserve special protection. Using children in conflict is a heinous crime and destroys the very fabric of a society," Jolie told Agence France Presse regarding the charges against Lubanga for allegedly using kids to fight in his militia.
"I imagined how difficult it must be for all the brave young children who have come to testify against him," she said.
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