Three conceal evidence from Ocampo

Three of the six post-election violence suspects have concealed the evidence they will rely on in September at The Hague from prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

In submissions made on Wednesday, the suspects told the Pre-Trial Chamber that they wanted their list of evidence and witnesses to remain confidential. (Read: Uhuru cries foul over ICC process)

Radio presenter Joshua Sang, and MPs William Ruto (Eldoret North) and Henry Kosgey (Tinderet) said that the move was aimed at protecting their witnesses.

They added that they would also rely on the evidence disclosed to them by the prosecutor during the hearing that will run from September 1 to 20.

Mr Kosgey, through lawyer George Oraro, said that they were submitting two confidential annexes, one containing the “list of evidence and the other containing a comprehensive analysis of the disclosed material and their relevance”.

“The Defence requests that Annex A and Annex B be received by the single judge as “Confidential” due to the fact that they include sensitive details such as the identities of witnesses, extracts from statements, and sources of Defence exhibits,” the submission reads.

Mr Oraro added that they were liaising with the Victims and Witnesses Unit to determine whether protection measures are required, and do not wish to prejudice the security of witnesses and information providers in the interim.

Mr Ruto and Mr Sang, through lawyer Katwa Kigen, said that they had tried to comply with the court’s orders despite their attempt to have the confirmation of charges hearing postponed rejected.

“The Defence hereby lists in three confidential annexes the lists of evidence that it intends to rely on for the purposes of the confirmation of charges hearing. The names of the two viva voce (live) witnesses for Mr Ruto and Mr Sang are identified as part of their respective lists,” Mr Kigen said.

Mr Kigen, however, said that both Mr Ruto and Mr Sang intend to rely not only on the material in their own list but on the material in the other’s list as well. He added that the two suspects also intend to rely on the prosecution disclosures indicated in a confidential Annex C.

“All lists are marked confidential at this time so as not to prejudice ongoing investigations and because not all materials are public. Additionally, the lists contain sensitive information about witnesses,” the two told the judges.