William Ruto, Joshua Arap Sang International Criminal Court trials to resume

                           William Ruto     PHOTO: COURTESY

By  FELIX OLICK

THE HAGUE: The trial of Deputy President William Ruto and his co-accused Joshua Sang resumes tomorrow at The Hague as the country waits for the decision on President Uhuru Kenyatta. The new session is scheduled to run until April 16, before the International Criminal Court (ICC) takes the Easter break.

During the session, Trial Chamber V (a) judges will give direction on the appearance of five witnesses, who ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants allowed to testify in closed session during the entirety of their testimony.

Already, Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji has ruled that Ruto, who has been excused from physical presence at trial, will have to sit in the courtroom throughout the testimony of P028.

One of the witnesses, P019, has implicated one of Ruto’s aides in the violence that rocked the Rift Valley after the disputed 2007 polls.

“P-0019 is a Kalenjin who possesses insider-type of information about meetings to organise and plan the violence. He names Farouk Kibet, a known Ruto associate, as a key perpetrator who coordinated the violence,” Bensouda told the judges.

But as Ruto resumes the hot seat, the fate of his boss, President Kenyatta, remains unknown and top Hague officials could not confirm when the ruling at the heart of his case is expected.

“I have no indication on when the Chamber may make a decision on the various requests submitted by the Prosecution and the Defence,” ICC Spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah told The Standard on Sunday.

“The Judges deliberate, after receiving the submissions of the parties and participants, and will make their decisions in accordance with the rules in due course,”

Uhuru has asked the judges to terminate his case but the Prosecution insists that the Kenyan Government should be compelled to surrender the Presidents financial records, which could yield new evidence.

Bensouda insists that the new witnesses lined up against Ruto and Sang are central to her case because they have an insider account, including claims that they attended meetings to plan attacks at which Ruto was allegedly present.

According to the Prosecution theory, Ruto funded, hosted meetings and gave orders using a network that was formed as early as 2006 to attack non-Kalenjin communities living in the Rift Valley.

So far, 13 witnesses have testified in the case. Bensouda lined up about 40 witnesses.