Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Why Uhuru, Ruto may just make it to the ballot


By WAHOME THUKU and VITALIS KIMUTAI
Barring a contrary ruling by the Trial Chamber judges, it is almost certain that the two Kenyan cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands will be heard after the general election.
It means that Deputy Prime Minister and Eldoret North MP William Ruto are free men to run for office in the polls either as presidential candidates or in any other capacity, unless Kenyan courts rule otherwise.
The four suspects might have received the news with a sigh of relief Monday when the Office of the ICC Prosecutor intimated it was not opposed to a trial after March 2013. The mention of March was an indirect reference to March 14, when the elections are scheduled.
The prosecution is unlikely to change its position this morning when a similar conference is held in the case against Uhuru and former Head of the Civil Service Francis Mathura.
It also emerged Monday that the late Internal Security minister George Saitoti was listed to testify in the trial of the four Kenyans at the International Criminal Court.
The other suspects are Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura.
During the status conference Monday, the ICC prosecution condoled with the Kenya government following the death of the minister.
“We have lost a key witness. Saitoti was one of the witnesses in these proceedings,” the prosecutor said at the opening of the session.
The late Saitoti’s appearance on the list of witnesses may have been necessitated by the fact that in July 2009, he was appointed chairman of a special Cabinet sub-committee to oversee the affairs of the ICC in Kenya.
Other members of the committee were former Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo, Trade minister Moses Wetangula then in Foreign Affairs, Lands minister James Orengo, Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang and Fisheries minister Amason Kingi.
The committee was to coordinate cooperation between the ICC and the Kenya government during the investigations into the post-election violence, which led to the indictment of the four suspects.
Saitoti hosted ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo during his visits at the height of the investigations.
The minister was also vocal in defending President Kibaki from any link to the post-election violence and the ICC proceedings. He also held the position that only the Constitution could bar Ruto and Uhuru from running for the presidency in which he was also preparing to contest.
Investigations
ICC prosecutor Lara Renton made the one line acknowledgement that her office was not opposed to a March trial when the presiding judge of the trial Chamber Kuniko Ozaki asked her to be specific on which date they preferred.
“The prosecution has no problem starting the trial after March 2013,” she responded.
That sent a sigh of relief among the defence lawyers David Hooper (for Ruto) and Katwa Kigen for Sang, who quickly acknowledged that they had no problem with a trial after March next year.
And both Ruto and Sang were quick to put themselves in the good books of the Trial Chamber at the earliest opportune, pledging that they would be present during the entire trial. Their lawyers told the Chamber that the two had made an undertaking and given their word that they would abide by all the rulings made by the Chamber regarding their attendance.
The court will now pick trial date before the end of July. If it accepts the submissions and picks March next year, it will have given a reprieve to Uhuru and Ruto to up their campaigns for the presidency.
Though debate will still be on as to whether the two should be on the ballot with charges of crimes against humanity pending at the ICC, a trial date after March will allay any fears they might have of being recalled from their busy campaigns to face months of trial at The Hague.
It is mandatory under the Rome Statute for them to be present during their trial.
Backers of Ruto and Uhuru have been pushing to have the trial start after the March 14 election, by which time the country will have settled from the dust of the campaigns. The Government, on its part, has been pushing to have the cases transferred to Kenya.
The next dilemma will be how to handle the trial should any of the two win the presidency.
The suspects had been allowed to keep their freedom by the Pre-Trial Chamber on condition that they desisted from making any utterances or behaving in any way that would trigger animosity and insecurity in the country. The Trial Chamber might adopt those conditions or set its own under the circumstances of the case.
If the court allows them to remain free during the trial, it will have set precedence since all other suspects on trial at The Hague are in the custody of the ICC.
The twin status conferences have been called as a matter of procedure to discuss the trial date and other housekeeping maters. Only Sang attended Monday’s session, accompanied by his lawyer Katwa Kigen.
It was, however, clear that even the prosecution was not ready for an immediate trial. The prosecution indicated it was in the process of interviewing more witnesses, and that disclosure material would be finalised in the first quarter of next year.
The prosecution said they had 120 materials ready for immediate disclosure, but the rest would need more time.
The defence team pushed for the disclosure of identities of witnesses, material and redactions at least 45 days before trial, while the prosecution had asked for full disclosure of the material in 30 days before trial.
“We are reviewing prosecution material for disclosure as soon as is possible,” Ms Lara said.
The languages to be used in the trial will largely be English, Kiswahili, Kikuyu and Kalenjin.
The registry asked for the names of the witnesses and the languages they would likely use, to enable it prepare for interpretations.
immediate trial
The prosecutor explained that although they had asked for use of French, they did not have a particular witness.
“We are making the application because French is one of the working languages of the court,” the prosecutor explained.
Katwa appealed to the Registry to consider getting an interpreter, specifically from his Nandi sub-tribe of the Kalenjin.
The prosecution said it intended to make an application for legal re-characterisation of Ruto’s case to change the nature of his criminal responsibility for the violence.
They, however, clarified that they did not intend to amend the charges against him, a situation that would legally send the case back to the Pre-Trial Chamber.
 SOURCE: http://standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000059696&pageNo=3

1 comment:

  1. William Samoei Ruto
    Friends,the news from Netherlands gives me the strongest confirmation ever that prayer changes
    situations. Thank you for standing with us and our families in the many sessions of fervent prayer across the country both in private and public. The devil of lies and falsehood will surely be ashamed. Thank God for everything and truly Bwana Yesu asifiwe!!

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