Suspects to appear as ‘free men’
What you need to know:
Conditions given by court
That the six would;
- Have no contact directly or indirectly with any person who is or is believed to be a victim or a witness of the crimes for which the suspects have been summoned;
- Refrain from corruptly influencing a witness, obstructing or interfering with the attendance or testimony of a witness, or tampering with or interfering with the Prosecution’s collection of evidence.
- Refrain from committing crime (s) set forth in the Statute
- Attend all required hearings at the International Criminal Court.
The six Kenyans summoned to appear before the International Criminal Court over post election violence will walk into court as free men and will not be finger-printed.
The Daily Nation sought explanation from the court on how the six will be treated and got the following from Jelena Vukasinovic, an associate legal outreach officer at the ICC.
Q. Do the Ocampo six need to be finger-printed?
A. It is important to reiterate that the persons for whom a summons to appear has been issued will come before the court as free persons. In light of the above, there is no formality as the taking of fingerprints.
Q. Will any right be read to them?
A. On April 7 the Pre-Trial Chamber will hold a hearing in the presence of the person to satisfy itself that the person has been informed of the crimes, which he is alleged to have committed, and of his rights under the Rome Statute.
From this moment the person will enjoy all the rights in accordance with article 67 of the Rome Statute, including the right to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his or her defence and to have the assistance of a counsel, without payment if the person lacks sufficient means to pay for it.
Q. Will there be confirmation that their rights have not been violated in the surrender?
A. The Chamber issued summonses to appear therefore these persons are expected to come voluntarily on April 7 and appear before the Pre-Trial Judges of the court.
Q.Do they go to the registrar’s office?
A. They will enter the court’s premises as any other free person and then they will proceed to the Pre-Trial room to appear before the judges of the PTC II.
Q.Or to the detention centre?
A. It is adamant to reiterate that the persons summoned are appearing as free men. In light of that, there is no ground for taking them to the detention centre.
Q. Or straight to the court?
A. As mentioned above, the summonses to appear have been issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber and persons summoned voluntarily appear before the court.
They will enter the court’s premises as any other free person and then they will proceed to the Pre-Trial room to appear before the judges of the PTC II.
Q. Will their movements now be determined by the court?
A. Once more, the suspects are free men and as such their freedom of movement, at this stage, is not restricted by the court.
They could leave the court immediately after the hearing and go back home.
