The ICC will not drop the crimes against humanity charges against Kenyan president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta, the court's chief prosecutor has said
The chief prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) (SANG- HYUN-SONG) said on Wednesday that Kenya
president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta would face a trial on charges of crimes against
humanity but when that would happen was unknown.
Kenyatta,
whose election earlier this month is being challenged by his rival, faces
charges at the ICC over bloodshed in the aftermath of Kenya's 2007 election.
However,
his lawyers said on Monday that the charges against him should be dropped after
the case against a co-accused collapsed when an important witness's testimony
was retracted.
"We will not drop
the charges," Fatou Bensouda told reporters in Paris, saying it was only a
question of when, not if, he goes to trial.
Kenyatta (51) stands
accused of orchestrating deadly violence that followed disputed polls five
years ago. He was named Kenya's new president in a closely-fought election this
month, though his main rival has filed a legal challenge against the win.
Bensouda said she deplored
the lack of co-operation from the Kenyan government in the International
Criminal Court cases related to the East African country, which she said
suffered from witness intimidation.
"Kenya is the most
challenging situation our office has had to deal with," she said.
Lawyers for Kenyatta on
Monday urged the ICC to dismiss the case against him after prosecutors last
week dramatically dropped all charges against Kenyatta's co-accused after a key
witness withdrew testimony.
It was the first time ICC
prosecutors decided to drop a case since the world's first permanent
independent war crimes court began operating in 2002.
Should the charges against Kenyatta stand, he will become the first-ever president to have to fly off to The Hague to face a trial that could last at least two years shortly after taking office.
Kenyatta, one of Africa's
richest and most powerful men, was declared the president just over a week ago following the
first elections after the African country's post-poll unrest five years ago in
which ICC prosecutors say some 1 100 people were killed.
Prosecutors suspect Kenyatta
of having paid the Mungiki, a sect-like criminal gang notorious for beheading
its victims, to lead reprisal attacks and defend the Kikuyu community when
violence ripped through the country.
Kenyatta denies the
allegations.
His trial is scheduled to
begin in July and he has repeatedly vowed to co-operate with the legal
proceedings.
Francis Muthaura
The evidence against Kenyatta's co-accused, top civil servant Francis Muthaura, was critically undermined when a key prosecution witness, known as "OTP-4", recanted earlier testimony.
Lawyer Steven Kay on Monday
said the five charges against Kenyatta, including rape and murder, should now
also be reconsidered.
Because of the withdrawal of
that witness "this matter has to go back for reconfirmation by the
pre-trial chamber", Kay told the court, saying this
witness' statement "is the backbone of the prosecution's case from
the beginning to end".
"To a certain extent we
have lost faith in the decision-making as we warned the pre-trial chamber of
the quality of the evidence and we were ignored," Kay said.
More than 663 000 people were
displaced in Kenya's Rift Valley five years ago after fights between rival
supporters, prosecutors said, when politically motivated riots soon turned into
ethnic killings, which in turn sparked further reprisals.
The clashes destroyed Kenya's
image as a beacon of stability in the region, hurt its tourism industry and
exposed long-simmering ethnic rifts among its population. – Sapa-AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment