ICC judges to vote on trial of Ruto in Kenya

Deputy President William Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang will have to wait for International Criminal Court judges to vote to know whether part of their trial will be held in Kenya or Tanzania June 4, 2013. FILE

What you need to know:

  • In their ruling on Monday, Trial Chamber judges Chile Eboe-Osuji, Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr recommended to the presidency that the start of the trial hearings for Mr Ruto and former radio journalist Joshua arap Sang can be held in Kenya or Tanzania.

A vote of 12 judges at the International Criminal Court will decide whether or not Deputy President William Ruto’s trial will be held in Kenya or Tanzania.

However, The ICC Tuesday said that even if a majority of The Hague judges voted in favour of local trials, only portions of the proceedings could be held away from its seat in the Netherlands.

The statement that sought to clarify questions raised by the Trial Chamber judges’ proposal to the ICC presidency, said the final decision would be taken by the 18 judges of the court in an open sitting.

“This recommendation by the chamber is only one step in the procedure as the final decision on where the court shall sit for the trial will be made in due course...

“The decision on whether or not to sit in a State other than the Host State will be taken, in due time, in a plenary session of the judges, by a two-thirds majority,” the ICC said.

The judges will consider the issues raised by the prosecution, including availability of facilities, security and conditions that meet standards of The Hague, the judges said.

In their ruling on Monday, Trial Chamber judges Chile Eboe-Osuji, Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr recommended to the presidency that the start of the trial hearings for Mr Ruto and former radio journalist Joshua arap Sang can be held in Kenya or Tanzania.

The trials begin on September 10.

Emotions of victims

The civil society has opposed shifting of the trial of Mr Ruto and Mr Sang to Kenya or Tanzania.

Kenya Coalition for the International Criminal Court national coordinator Ken Wafula said the security of witnesses and human rights defenders and emotions of the victims of the post-election violence were not taken into consideration when Trial Chamber V (A) made the recommendations.