Kenya’s fresh bid to stop Ocampo

The government has opened a fresh bid to have trials against the Ocampo Six at the International Criminal Court transferred to Kenya.

In an application to ICC judges filed by government-appointed lawyers, Kenya is requesting access to evidence collected by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on grounds that local investigators may not have critical documents that could help nail the masterminds of the violence.

The application filed by lawyers Geoffrey Nice and Rodney Dixon has a 22-page annexture, which seeks to show that Kenyan courts can try the cases.

“The government has informed the court it is conducting an investigation at all levels in respect of all persons against whom there may be allegations of participation in post-election violence,” they say in the application.

The move underlines the government’s determination to block the ICC from trying Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, suspended minister William Ruto and Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura at The Hague.

The others in the Ocampo list are Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey, Postmaster-General Hussein Ali and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.

Sources at the Attorney-General chambers revealed the lawyers annexed to the application a list of cases of foreign pirates who have been tried in Kenyan courts to show the country’s capacity to try the Ocampo Six.

Show of trust

The annexes also contain a list of the cases on post-election violence that are under investigation, prosecutions and those that have been convicted.

The sources argued that it was a show of trust in Kenya’s law courts for US, UK, the European Union, Japan and China to entrust the trial of pirates in the hands of local judges and prosecutors. The list of investigations and prosecutions into post-election violence were submitted to the ICC on Thursday.

Chief Public Prosecutor Keriako Tobiko on Friday confirmed that a list of investigations and prosecutions into post-election chaos was handed over to the AG Amos Wako.

Mr Tobiko said more than 1,000 cases had been investigated and were awaiting prosecution while trials of over 700 had been concluded.

“The conviction rates are 50-50 depending on the evidence that has been presented during the prosecutions,” he said by phone.

CID director Ndegwa Muhoro confirmed the AG had directed the police to speed up investigations into the post-election violence suspects, including the Ocampo Six.