Sang appears at the ICC Court, Ruto represented by defence team
Posted by African Press International on June 17, 2012
Last month the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected the appeals of the ongoing Kenyan cases. The defence teams of the accused are now back in court. The ICC has once again embarked on the Kenyan cases. Joshua Sang and William Ruto had their day in court today, both their defence teams had challenged the court’s jurisdiction last month. Mr Sang who chose to be present in the court, demanded to know the names of the prosecution witnesses. He also added that he wants to go home to investigate on who they are and whether they are genuine. Joshua Arap Sang who is a journalist at Kass FM in Nairobi, states that the prosecution should disclose the names in order for him to prepare his defence.
On the same day, 11.june, Ruto’s team represented by counsel’s Kilikumi and Hooper requested the court to have the trial after elections due to the up coming elections. Mr Ruto is running for the presidency in the next elections which are scheduled for 4 March 2013. Mr Ruto’s defence team has also asked the court to disclose the names of witnesses to his lawyers. The court has charged the Former Education Minister with ordering murders, deportation and persecutions. Mr Ruto maintains he’s innocent.
The hearings of Uhuru Kenyatta and Francis Muthaura had their day in court the following day, 12th.june. Mr Uhuru faces the same accusations, as well as being a co-perpetrator of rape and other inhumane acts according to the ICC. He wants the case to take place in Kenya even if it means with the same ICC judges. Mr Uhuru strongly maintains that he is innocent and wants the court to know that it is President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga who should be blamed for the post-elections violence and not him.Mr Uhuru claims that the violence and killings were a result of the disputed presidential elections four years ago, for this reason those who were contesting should take the blame.
On Dec. 27, 2007 Kenya was wracked by two months of violence sparked by allegations of vote-rigging by supporters of then opposition leader Raila Odinga. The clashes subsided after President Mwai Kibaki signed a power sharing accord with Mr Raila, who was named prime minister.
The former head of civil service Francis Muthaura who is a devoted supporter of President Kibaki, face the same accusations as Mr Uhuru. He maintains that he was just a civil servant with no powers to order killings. Mr Muthaura wants the court to understand that his role was just that of a secretary to the cabinet and head of the civil services, thus had no power to order the commissioner of police to direct his men to commit crimes.
The two-day deliberations explored the safety of the prosecution witnesses, whether to disclose their names and referrals to the ICC’s witness protection program, the Hague-based court said in an e-mailed statement.
The judges decided to start the trials of the 4 in the end of March next year.
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