OCAMPO TO NAME NAMES

International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo whose searchlight is trained on prime suspects of Kenya’s post-election violence will on Wednesday make them known by name to the ICC pre-trial Chamber.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo, who has made no secret he is itching to make Kenya an example to the world on the ills of impunity, is expected to divulge the names of individuals to be probed and the specific crimes he wants them charged with.

He has today and and Wednesday to build on his case for investigation and possible trial of prominent Kenyans, in line with the 12-day window he got from the pre-trial Chamber will decide whether or not to issue warrants of arrest at the prosecutor’s request and whether or not to confirm the charges against a person suspected of a crime.

They may also decide the admissibility of the situations and cases and on participation of victims at the pre-trial stage. The prosecutor had in November asked judges to allow a full-scale probe into the violence in which 1,500 people were killed after opposition candidate Mr Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki, who was hurriedly sworn-in, of electoral fraud. 

The pre-trial judges at the ICC had ordered Moreno-Ocampo to provide more evidence to support the Kenya case. It is believed the judges were keen on laying hands on what more Moreno-Ocampo could have on the State actors whose actions or inactions could have led to the killings and lawlessness.

Names likely to be presented to the judges for prosecution include those of six senior Government officials, including Cabinet ministers.