Evelyn Kwamboka
The International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo now says he will need 15 hours to present his arguments and cross-examine witnesses at the hearing scheduled for September 1.
"Assuming that the entire hearing takes 40 hours, this will allow the defence to have substantially more time than the prosecution. The prosecution would, of course, endeavor to use less than the 15 hours, if it turns out that cross‐examination of the defence witnesses will not be necessary," he said.
The prosecutor said this as some of the post-election violence suspects made a second move to have the hearing suspended.
They want the hearing suspended, pending hearing and determination of Pre-Trial Chamber II judge Ekaterina Trendafilova’s decision in which she declined to have the September 1 hearing postponed for six weeks.
In his document filed at the court’s registry, Ocampo pointed out that it would be impossible to assume the hearing would take less than the 15 hours because he does not know what the five witnesses lined up by the defence would testify.
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International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. |
"The prosecution observes that the defence’s intent to convert this confirmation hearing into a full-blown trial on the merits is an abuse of the confirmation process. Confirmation is not intended to be a mini-trial, an evidentiary hearing at which both sides are to be heard and assessed and guilt determined," he said.
The Pre-Trial Chamber II, Ocampo said, should reject if the defence team tries to challenge the legal basis for the charges by offering conflicting or contradictory evidence.
He said this is because the team may offer evidence that might explain the prosecution’s evidence.
In the schedule for the Ruto case, the hearing is expected to last eight days, from September 1 to 12.
In dividing the hours, Ocampo suggests that he should be given 15 hours because the prosecution bears the burden of proof.
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