Anxiety as Kenyans await ICC ruling

The three International Criminal Court judges handling the Kenyan case are scheduled to meet later this week to set the date on which to deliver the much-awaited ruling on the Ocampo Six.

The three are scheduled to hold a house-keeping meeting on January 13 at which point they will polish up any pending detail before they deliver the judgment.

Going by the timelines set out in the Rome Statute, the judges will have to deliver the ruling by January 20.

The Sunday Nation has learnt that the ruling will likely be delivered on Monday, January 16.

The ruling is awaited with much anticipation by the six suspects – all whom have protested their innocence – and by victims, Kenyans at large and the international community, as it is bound to cause ripples beyond the country’s corridors of power.

The Sunday Nation has also learnt that an officer of the court has written to the government asking for more personal information regarding the six.

Last month, the Cabinet sub-committee on the ICC received a letter from the court requesting for the medical records of the suspects. (READ: ICC wants victims’ medical data)

After discussing the matter, the committee agreed that the matter be left to the Attorney-General, sources who attended the meeting have told the Sunday Nation in confidence.

It is, however, yet to be established why the court is seeking such information from the government given medical records are between a patient and his doctor and this confidentiality is protected by law.

When the judges rule, they will either: confirm some or all the charges, reject the charges in total, ask the prosecutor to provide more evidence or to amend the charges if the evidence appears to establish a different crime.

Already, anxiety is heightening among the six and around the country as Kenyans await the outcome in the next 10 days.

The case has attracted local and international attention because it is the first time high ranking public officials have appeared at The Hague facing charges of crimes against humanity. (READ: ICC hearings whet appetite for justice)

The ruling is also likely to be a political game changer as it affects two key politicians who have declared an interest in the presidency.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto, who are among the six facing the charges, have declared they will run for the presidency when the General Election is called.

The duo, together with Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and radio presenter Joshua Sang, are suspected of indirectly perpetrating crimes committed during the violence that followed the 2007 General Election.

Mr Ruto and Mr Kosgey are suspected of being criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators for the crimes against humanity consisting of murder, forcible transfer of populations and persecution.

Mr Sang is suspected of having otherwise contributed to the commission of the murder, forcible transfer of populations and persecution but not as a direct co-perpetrator.

Mr Kenyatta, Mr Ali and Mr Muthaura are allegedly criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators for the crimes against humanity of murder, forcible transfer, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts.