The Hague – The International Criminal Court (ICC) will proceed with a landmark hearing against fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony this September, after judges rejected an appeal by his defense team seeking to halt the process.

For the first time in the court’s history, a “confirmation of charges” hearing will take place in absentia. The hearing, scheduled for September 9, will determine whether there is enough evidence to move forward with a full trial against Kony, who remains at large.

Kony, a former altar boy and self-proclaimed prophet, founded the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the 1980s. Under his leadership, the LRA waged a brutal insurgency against the Ugandan government, particularly in the north, resulting in the deaths of more than 100,000 people and the abduction of over 60,000 children. The group’s violence also spread to several neighboring countries.

Kony faces 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed between July 2002 and December 2005. The charges include murder, torture, enslavement, pillaging, rape, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy.

While ICC regulations prohibit holding a full trial in absentia, prosecutors believe that moving forward with the confirmation hearing could accelerate the trial process if Kony is eventually captured and transferred to The Hague.

Kony’s defense team argued that setting the hearing without his presence was inappropriate, but the ICC appeals chamber dismissed their challenge. The court ruled that such hearings without the accused present are in line with the objectives of the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC.

In a related case, the ICC in 2021 sentenced former LRA commander Dominic Ongwen—himself abducted as a child soldier—to 25 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Earlier this year, the court confirmed reparations of €52 million ($59 million) for Ongwen’s victims.