Second ICC prosecution witness declared hostile
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. PHOTO | FILE
A second prosecution witness in the case against Deputy President William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang was on Thursday declared hostile by judges at the International Criminal Court.
Witness 516 was declared hostile following an application by prosecution lawyer Lucio Garcia, who said the witness was evasive and had greatly departed from his initial statement.
The judges agreed and granted the lawyer a chance for him to be cross-examined.
On Wednesday, the witness had told the court that he was asked to change his testimony to suit what the investigators wanted.
He said that a certain woman promised him a good life and riches if he complied.
The witness had recanted his earlier statement and withdrawn from testifying before the court, but he was asked to do so via video link following an application by prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
Last week, witness 604, was also declared hostile following an application by prosecution lawyer Anton Steynberg.
Mr Steynberg argued the witness had diverged so far from his original statement that he had recanted every major allegation he had made against the accused.
