Statements by Hague Six ‘influenced’ Ocampo move
Public utterances by some of the six suspects named by The Hague on Wednesday convinced prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to seek summons instead of warrants of arrest.
The suspects will however need to update the International Criminal Court twice a month on their whereabouts and are not supposed to communicate with each other in any way.
The prosecutor told the judges in his two applications that he had reason to believe the six would appear voluntarily before the court.
He said that three of the suspects, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and former Commissioner of Police Hussein Ali had expressed their willingness to cooperate with the court.
The applications say that since April, Mr Ruto had been in contact with the Prosecutor’s office “voicing his willingness to co-operate with the investigation.”
It also refers to the Eldoret North MP’s “voluntary” visit to The Hague last month.
“Upon his return to Kenya, Mr Ruto confirmed that his contact with the prosecution was positive, and that he had the opportunity to provide his version of the facts,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo told the three-judge bench.
In the application on Mr Ruto, the prosecutor told the judges that the other two suspects, Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey and journalist Joshua arap Sang had not made public announcements on the matter.
“However, there is no indication that they would not cooperate if summoned,” he said.
In his second application against Mr Kenyatta, Mr Ali and head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, the prosecutor pointed to the government’s commitment to cooperate with ICC.
He said that since the opening of investigations, the Kenyan authorities have consistently indicated its commitment and willingness to cooperate with his office and with the ICC.
“This commitment to cooperation has included a commitment to hand over any suspects who may be the subject of an arrest warrant application by the ICC,” the application said.
It added that Mr Kenyatta had consistently indicated in numerous public statements that he was willing to cooperate with the ICC. The prosecutors also said that Mr Ali’s representative had made similar suggestions.
“The Prosecution does not possess similar information as to Mr Muthaura. He has not made a public announcement on this matter. However, there is no indication that he would not cooperate if summoned to appear,” the application read.
The six are to provide the Chamber with all their residential addresses and telephone numbers. They shall verify the accuracy of this information on a bi-monthly basis.
They are also to report any change in the information provided to the court’s Registry.
