By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, September 5 2011 at 22:00
Posted Monday, September 5 2011 at 22:00
In Summary
- Tinderet MP’s lawyers build independent case for him and request secret sessions a record five times
Suspended minister Henry Kosgey on Monday adopted an
independent approach to defend himself against claims of masterminding
the post-election violence.
His lawyer used Monday’s hearing to try and demonstrate that Mr
Kosgey did not have any links with KASS FM, which is alleged to have
broadcast hate messages.
Mr George Oraro told the court
that the radio station covered the Tinderet MP negatively, citing an
instance where his supporters protested at some of the station’s news
bulletins.
Unlike his fellow suspects William Ruto and
Joshua Sang, he gave up the right to call witnesses, saying he would
rely on his lawyer’s submissions.
And also unlike Mr
Sang, whose defence was weaved into that of Mr Ruto, such as explaining
where Mr Ruto was on a certain day to prove that he could not have
hosted the radio presenter, Mr Kosgey seems to have taken a
distinctively independent path.
In extensive
presentations, Mr Kosgey sought to provide alibi for the days he is
alleged to have been in meetings that plotted the attacks on Kikuyu,
Kisii and Kamba families in the province.
For instance,
he said he was campaigning for ODM in Nyanza Province with party leader
Raila Odinga and secretary-general Anyang’ Nyong’o on December 14,
2007, when he was alleged to have been attended a militia planning
meeting.
He accused Hague prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of
relying on a single anonymous witness to implicate him in the
post-election violence. He termed the prosecutor’s ‘Witness Number Six’
as unreliable.
The MP’s lawyer also asked to be heard in camera five times in three hours to present “crucial documents”.
Mr
Oraro said the prosecution had failed to get more witnesses to
corroborate the claims. He challenged Mr Moreno-Ocampo to prove that his
client exercised control over the so-called perpetrators of the chaos
that killed 1,133 people and displaced 650,000 others.
“The
prosecutor must also prove that Mr Kosgey had the knowledge of a
so-called common plan that included murders, persecution and
deportations,” Mr Oraro told the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Mr
Oraro asked the court to listen to the defence on the allegation of
using Kass FM to spread hate messages in private as he had “confidential
documents” to disclose.
Shortly after, Mr Kosgey asked the Chamber to hear him in private.
After
the second private session, Mr Oraro said the prosecution had failed to
link his client to the Emo Foundation, which has been accused of
funding the chaos.
“It is no exaggeration to state
that the foundation of the prosecution linking Mr Kosgey to the
‘Network’ is the planning meetings. Mr Kosgey never attended these
meetings,” Mr Oraro said before requesting another private session.
He said Mr Kosgey did not attend the meetings as his name was not on the list of participants.
“I ask a critical question, are there substantial grounds to
believe that a meeting with the agenda of planning the acts can be
convened and not be attended by Mr Kosgey if he is a co-perpetrator?”
He
said only one witness claimed Mr Kosgey attended a meeting allegedly
held on December 14, 2007. He then requested for another private
session.
The lawyer also said that his client was cooperating with the ICC.
“This
chamber should take into account that there was at no time any request,
either by the prosecutor or the Kenya Police, for any statement from
the suspect,” said Mr Oraro.
Meanwhile, lawyer David Cooper for Mr Ruto tabled statements by witness Henry Kiptoo Murei as ordered on Saturday. (READ: Witnesses deny claims that violence was planned at Ruto home)
Presiding
judge Trendafilova said the chamber received the statements by Mr
Ruto’s second witness, adding that he would not be recalled.
Follow the proceedings via live video stream and live text blogging here: www.nation.co.ke/ICCLive
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