Although Katanga and Chui were originally charged together, the ICC split their trials in November 2012 to allow the prosecutors to collect more evidence regarding Katanga's involvement. The Katanga trial verdict produced mixed reactions. Some human rights activists in the DRC expressed satisfaction with the verdict as bringing a measure of closure to the victims and their families, with one activist quoted as saying: "For those who lost their possessions, their mothers, their homes, this judgment provides some relief. Today people here see some satisfaction. In the end, everyone must answer for his actions." A lawyer for the victims in the case stated: "In their heart, many victims want to believe that, somehow, this judgment will contribute to peace and reconciliation". Some women's groups criticized the ICC for acquitting Katanga of rape and sexual slavery charges, claiming that the court appeared to demand higher level of proof for the sexual crimes than for other crimes. Phil Clark, a London-based expert on the ICC, criticized the ICC prosecutors for not devoting sufficient resources to the case: "The ICC has been doing its investigations on the cheap. It's been using a really small group of investigators who haven’t spent an enormous amount of time in Congo. The prosecution has cut corners, they’ve used local Congolese intermediaries to do a lot of their dirty work. And as a result of that these cases haven’t been systematically built." The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement welcoming the verdict and saying: "This is an important verdict for the victims of these horrific crimes, for international justice and for the fight against impunity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." Melbourne Law School Professor Kevin Jon Heller, an expert in international criminal law, has strongly criticised the recharacterisation of the charges Katanga faced, arguing that this violates the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the rights of the accused. On 23 May 2014, Katanga was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment. The time he spent in detention at the ICC – between 2007 and 2014 – was deducted from the sentence. On 19 December 2015, Katanga was transferred to a prison in the DRC, where he is scheduled to serve the balance of his sentence.