AfricaNews political desk with files from BBC
The former Vice President of the DR Congo Jean-Pierre Bemba would soon be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
An appeals panel at the court in The Hague rejected an appeal from his lawyers to dismiss the case.
Bemba is accused of leading militias in neighbouring CAR in 2002 and 2003. The troops are accused of intervening in a power struggle in CAR, using murder and rape to terrorise civilians.
According to the BBC, Bemba's lawyers had argued he had already been investigated in Central African Republic (CAR) and could not be prosecuted twice for the same crime.
The former political boss maintains that he was not in command of the militia after it crossed the border.
ICC appeals judge Anita Usacka said the chamber confirmed the decision of a court hearing in June that the trial was admissible, and dismissed Bemba's appeal.
Bemba was arrested in Belgium in 2008 and extradited to The Hague. ICC judges had been waiting for Tuesday's ruling before setting a trial date.
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