International Criminal Court Prosecutor opposes Uhuru Kenyatta’s application

President Uhuru Kenyatta

By Moses Njagih

Nairobi, Kenya: The International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has opposed the application by President Uhuru Kenyatta to have his trial postponed to January 2014.

Urging trial judges to reject the application, Bensouda said the application, if allowed, would impede on justice and the interests of victims and witnesses.

The opposition at The Hague based court comes at a time when victims of the 2007/08 post-election violence have raised concern about Uhuru’s application terming the move as one meant to give him sufficient time to engineer a political and diplomatic campaign to stop his trial, in light of the on-going moves orchestrated through multiple channels.

Bensouda told the judges that the application by President Uhuru does not give satisfactory reasoning to warrant the adjournment of the trial for such a lengthy period. The trial is slated for July 9.

However, the Prosecutor says in the event that the court is persuaded to warrant Uhuru’s application, then the court should consider starting the trial after the summer recess.

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She said the court must consider balancing the interests of victims and witnesses, even as they ensure Uhuru is subjected to a fair trial.