By EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA gmayaka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
Deputy Prime Uhuru Kenyatta’s camp on Saturday reacted angrily to suggestions that he could defy the International Criminal Court as Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo warned that such a move would prompt a warrant of arrest and seizure of assets.
While calling for postponement of the impending ICC trials of four Kenyans facing crimes against humanity charges, assistant ministers Cecily Mbarire and Ferdinand Waititu had on Friday advised Mr Kenyatta not to travel to The Hague for the trials.
During a meeting of leaders from the Mt Kenya region, it was also resolved that the ICC be petitioned to delay the trials until after the general elections. (READ: Postpone Hague cases, Uhuru backers demand)
However, Mr Kilonzo on Saturday described the call as “wishful thinking” saying supporters of an accused person cannot determine the prosecution of a case.
“Theirs is wishful thinking. Accused individuals cannot be prosecuted at their own convenience or the convenience of their supporters. That is the height of hypocrisy,” the minister told the Sunday Nation.
Petition ICC
Mr Kilonzo, a senior lawyer, said members of one community cannot petition the ICC or the UN Security Council to postpone criminal proceedings in an independent, international court.
“How can two million people decide that they will postpone trials at The Hague? My ministry is for everybody, not for a few people who are able to go to Limuru.”
He added: “My ministry will not support such kind of attitude. Justice is not for the supporters of an accused or pastors.
“It is for the people who were displaced, lost relatives and the women who were raped who deserve closure of this process.”
On Saturday, Mr Kenyatta through spokesman Munyori Buku dismissed insinuations of a defiance plot as reckless.
“Mr Kenyatta has been summoned to the ICC twice and obliged. He engages the court through his lawyers,” said Mr Buku.
Trials in May
Mr Kenyatta has consistently declared that he will cooperate with the court even as a section of his supporters have publicly called on him not to attend possible trials expected to start after May.
The other accused, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, former head of Public Service Francis Muthaura and radio journalist Joshua Sang who have been granted liberty under conditions by the court, have also indicated their determination to cooperate with the court.
Addressing the Friday gathering of leaders from the Mt Kenya region, Mr Kenyatta said he was committed to cooperate and prove his innocence at the ICC.
Addressing the Friday gathering of leaders from the Mt Kenya region, Mr Kenyatta said he was committed to cooperate and prove his innocence at the ICC.
“I am not afraid to go to The Hague and defend myself. I will go there, defend myself and come back to continue with normal life as I am without any doubt innocent of the crimes they have talked about,” he said.
“This will not stop me from offering leadership to this community and the entire country. Those who are telling us that we should be in jail, should tell the world if they are the judges. The West should know that they cannot impose a leader on Kenyans.”
Obliging to ICC
Mr Kilonzo warned that any disobedience will attract dire consequences and advised the suspects to submit fully to the ICC, comply with its conditions and seek support from his ministry in pushing for speedy conclusion of the trials.
“Warrants of arrest would be issued in case of defiance and the prosecutor (Luis Moreno-Ocampo) will demand the cooperation of the Kenya government to arrest and hand over the suspects,” cautioned Mr Kilonzo.
The minister also pointed out that assets of the accused may be seized as spelt out in the Rome Statute.
“The Attorney General will be forced to cooperate and follow the recommendations of the panel he appointed to advise on the ICC proceedings.”
“The committee advises the GoK to continue cooperating with the ICC in accordance with the ICC Statute and Kenyan law and to pursue relevant applications for assistance to be provided by the ICC to the GoK at appropriate times,” the committee says in its report which has been presented to the President.A panel of lawyers set up by the AG, Prof Githu Muigai, to advise the government on the ICC has returned a verdict that Kenya has no choice but to hand over the Ocampo Four to The Hague and seize their assets if requested.
It, however, says that the government has the right to refuse the ICC requests, if it feels that the matter is a threat to national security, an argument Mr Kilonzo dismissed on Saturday saying the spirit of the Rome Statute was to combat any forces threatening international peace through impunity.
Speedy trial
Instead, the minister advised Mr Kenyatta’s supporters to push for a speedy trial which will find their man innocent as he has always maintained.
Central Kenya leaders on Friday set Mr Kenyatta on a collision course with the ICC with a petition to postpone his impending trial for crimes against humanity. The calls were made after Mr Kenyatta had left the meeting.
In a declaration issued after a conference of the Gikuyu, Embu and Meru Association (Gema) in Limuru, they sought to have the Kenyan cases at The Hague postponed until after the General Election. Gema leaders said they will collect two million signatures to support the appeal before the ICC and if necessary, take the matter before the UN General Assembly for adjudication.
During the meeting dubbed Limuru II, the gathering declared Mr Kenyatta the political leader of the community, and linked his prospects of standing as a presidential candidate to the ICC cases. They blamed his predicament on alleged plots by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Western countries, saying free, fair and peaceful elections depended on Mr Kenyatta being on the ballot.
“We petition the ICC to postpone the trial in the interest of having peaceful elections, to a period after the forthcoming general elections,” they said.
However, Mr Kilonzo and another senior lawyer, Mr Paul Muite, said it was inappropriate to suggest that the elections would only be peaceful if an individual is on the ballot.
Prosecution of suspects
They argued that prosecution of criminal suspects had nothing to do with law-abiding voters.
“The insinuation by Gema leaders that the elections will not be peaceful if Mr Kenyatta is excluded plays into the hands of Moreno (Ocampo) and the International Criminal Court,” said Mr Muite.
“While it helps politically, they are making the situation at The Hague precarious. I see them as endangering Uhuru’s situation and I feel very sad about it,” he said.
Mr Kilonzo accused Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi, a senior lawyer, of not only misleading Mr Kenyatta’s supporters but also misreading international criminal law.
“Uhuru is in a political hospital and we want to apply for adjournment, postponement of the case, until the DPM is out of the hospital. I have studied international law and the ICC case is a political case which requires a political solution.Mr Murungi had on Friday argued that not all cases which start must end. He quoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that anyone has a right to be elected.
“There are people who know how powerful the DPM is and there are efforts employed to make sure Uhuru’s name is not on the ballot paper come 2013,” he said.
Political gain
However, Mr Muite accused the Limuru group of exploiting Mr Kenyatta’s predicament for political gain.
“These people don’t have Uhuru’s interest at heart. They want to create a euphoria that would help them secure elective posts.”
Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, through his press secretary Kaplich Barsito said: “The shuttle diplomacy the VP engaged in even before the names of the ICC suspects were revealed was aimed at deferring the ICC action to allow for the setting up of a local judicial process.
“This could then attain justice for the victims and suspects and safeguard our sovereignty. It looks like that thinking is now gaining wide appeal.”
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