ICC prosecutor wants Kenyatta ruling reversed
October 27, 2013 (THE HAGUE) – Only a day after the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) reversed a conditional leave it had granted Kenyan vice-president William Ruto, the prosecutor is now seeking to have a similar leave granted to president Uhuru Kenyatta reversed.
On Friday, the appeals chamber reversed an earlier ruling by trial judges granting Ruto absence from some of the hearings in the case against him at The Hague.
Ruto had been granted leave by trial judges on 18 June, but the prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, appealed against the ruling, saying the judges had acted outside of their discretion.
Kenyatta and Ruto are accused of crimes against humanity in relation to their alleged role in the 2007-2008 post-election violence in which 1,200 people were killed and 600,000 displaced.
The office of the prosecutor said in a statement on Saturday that it would appeal the ruling granting Kenyatta leave from attending all hearings of the case against him.
“The office of the prosecutor (OTP) will request trial chamber V (b) to reconsider its decision to conditionally excuse Mr Kenyatta from continuous presence at his trial or, in the alternative, to grant the OTP leave to appeal that decision”, Bensouda’s office said in a statement.
Trial judges had previously granted Kenyatta leave from some of the sessions to enable him to attend to his constitutional responsibilities as president of Kenya.
Kenyatta’s hearing is set to begin in November but he has made an application to the court to halt proceedings.
(ST)