Two days before the International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing to confirm the charges against Thomas Lubanga, scheduled from 9 to 28 November in The Hague, the DRC National Coalition for the ICC expressed its "frustration to see only one charge of enlistment of child soldiers against only one accused"; a "small fish" [IJT-53-39-9]. During a press briefing, the coalition stated that "the population is becoming more and more skeptical about the ICC's ability to fight against impunity," and called on the new Congolese parliament to give priority to the law adopting the Rome Statute, which would enable the national courts to deal with crimes under the ICC's jurisdiction. Back from an investigation conducted in Congo in late October, Lubanga's attorney, Jean Flamme, complained to the judges of the unfair conditions in which he was forced to work. The Belgian attorney described the former UPC leader as an "innocent man" caught up in this "NGO justice," "who was a thorn in people's sides because of his popular support." According to Flamme, Lubanga was nicknamed "the pastor", because he tried to "promote the reconciliation of ethnic groups in Ituri and give the wealth of the region back to the people". Challenging the legitimacy of the ICC to intervene in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the lawyer was assisted during the hearing by Melinda Taylor of the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence, a section in the Registry tasked with "representing and protecting the rights of the defence during the initial stages of the investigation". She recalled that since the investigation opened in June 2004, judgments for war crimes and crimes against humanity have been handed down in Congo. According to Taylor, this country is no longer "unwilling or unable to proceed." An odd beginning for this trial, which witnessed the defence and NGOs make a common appeal for Congo, and not the ICC, to deal with these crimes.