In a case of the truth being far stranger than even Hollywood fiction can create, actress Angelina Jolie once came perilously close to taking part in some real-life espionage on behalf of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reports The People.
A hoard of 40,000 ICC documents leaked to the French investigative website Mediapart reveals that Jolie once offered to act as human bait in a trap to arrest brutal Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.
She “has the idea to invite Kony to dinner and then arrest him,” reads an e-mail sent by former ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, reports The Sunday Times.
“Forget other celebrities, she is the one,” Moreno Ocampo adds in another email. “She loves to arrest Kony. She is ready. Probably Brad [Pitt] will go also.”
According to The Sunday Times, which has seen the Mediapart documents, Moreno Ocampo hoped that Jolie and her now estranged husband would travel to the Central African Republic with a team of US Special Forces.
It was thought that their presence would then draw Kony out of his armored compound and enable the US forces to take him into custody.
As head of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Kony has a $5 million bounty on his head and is wanted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity. He is currently thought to be hiding in the disputed border area between Sudan and South Sudan.
“Apparently you can be embedded with the special forces that are chasing Kony. Can Brad go with you?” The Sunday Times reports Moreno Ocampo as e-mailing.
Jolie replied, “Brad is being supportive. Let’s discuss logistics. Much love Xxx.”
Moreno Ocampo later added, “It will be great to spend more time with the American troops. They are eager to get Kony, but after meeting you, they will do it.”
Despite this exchange, The Sunday Times reports that the incredible plan never came to fruition. The cache of e-mails also suggests that Moreno Ocampo developed something of a fixation with celebrities during his time as Chief Prosecutor at the ICC, which has a budget of $270 million to investigate and prosecute cases of genocide and war crimes. (Ocampo finished his term with the ICC in 2012.)
