ICC orders Kenya’s president Kenyatta to attend all trial sessions

November 27, 2013 (THE HAGUE) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta to attend all his trial sessions at The Hague, Netherlands unless ruled otherwise by the court.

The ruling delivered on Tuesday is a reversal of an earlier decision that had granted Kenyatta leave from some of the sessions.

[The] trial chamber held by majority … that as a general rule, Mr Kenyatta must be present at trial. Any future requests to be excused from attending parts of the trial will be considered on a case-by-case basis”, the ICC said in a statement on its website.

The trial chamber had on 18 October excused Kenyatta from being present in court except when victims are presenting their views, when a judgment is being made and when ordered by the court to attend a session.

However, the court prosecutor appealed against the decision leading, which resulted in Tuesday’s ruling.

“The chamber reconsidered its previous decision excusing Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta from continuous presence at trial in light of the legal clarifications provided by the appeals chamber in its recent judgment on the matter”, the ICC’s statement said.

Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, are charged with crimes against humanity for their alleged role in post-election violence in Kenya between 2007-2008, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 600,000 displaced.

In October, African leaders resolved during a summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to submit a proposal to the UN Security Council (UNSC) calling for the suspension of court proceedings against the Kenyan leaders for at least one year. In the same month, the UNSC voted in support of continuing the trial.

(ST)