First Hague witness arrives for Ruto trial

The ICC Appeals Chamber has allowed five African nations to contest a decision by the Trial Chamber requiring Deputy President William Ruto to attend all hearings pending the outcome of his appeal.

Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Eritrea will submit their objections to the Trial Chamber’s decision.

The countries, which applied to be enjoined in the case as friends of the court, want the Deputy President to be exempted from physically attending the hearings daily so that he can discharge his constitutional mandate.

“Today (yesterday), the Appeals Chamber decided that Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea and Uganda may file amici curiae observations in the appeal of the Prosecutor against the Trial Chamber V(a) decision on Mr Ruto’s request for excusal from continuous presence at trial. These submissions should be filed by 4pm on Wednesday, September 18, 2013,” the judges ruled.

This came as the first witness in the case against Mr Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Sang arrived in The Hague ahead of Tuesday’s hearing. The witness, whose absence prompted the court to adjourn, arrived on Thursday evening. Yesterday, the office of the prosecutor spent the better part of the day inducting the witness, identified only as No. 536, on the court processes.

“The preparation is more of familiarisation about our procedures. It has nothing to do with coaching,” ICC spokesman Fadi el Abdallah said.

It also emerged that President Kenyatta dispatched his close confidants to The Hague to give his deputy moral support at the start of his trial last Tuesday.

An MP who was among those who travelled revealed that the President’s younger brother Muhoho Kenyatta and his personal assistant Jomo Gecaga were in The Hague to meet Mr Ruto before he went to the court in Maanweg Street for the hearings.

The MP, who sought anonymity, said the two visited the Deputy President at his hotel on Tuesday morning before he was driven to court. It is also understood that the President called his deputy after he had appeared in court.

The two confidants of the President were also said to have joined a team of 30 MPs who travelled to The Hague to show solidarity with the Deputy President for lunch.
The President appears before the same court on November 12.

The MP could not say whether Mr Muhoho Kenyatta and Mr Gecaga had flown back home. Mr Ruto flew in on Thursday after his trial was adjourned to Tuesday following a request by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who said her witnesses were en route.

The Deputy President will fly back to The Hague on Monday for the resumption of the case when the prosecution will be expected to call its first witness.

While Ms Bensouda wanted the Appeals Chamber to use its discretion on the requirement to attend all proceedings, Mr Ruto’s lawyers said they were not opposed to the request by the five countries to act as amici curiae.

In Kenya, the Deputy President promised Kenyans a surprise when the trial resumes.

Speaking during a stopover at Sagana Town in Kirinyaga yesterday, Mr Ruto said Kenyans should brace themselves for a surprise.

“Mtashangaa na ile maneno itakuwa huko Hague (You will be amazed by what will transpire at The Hague),” he said.

The Deputy President’s remarks could be a hint of expectations that his defence could apply for an early dismissal on the grounds that investigations were flawed.

Mr Khan launched an assault on the prosecution’s evidence and investigations in his opening statement on Tuesday and called on Ms Bensouda to withdraw the case in the face of massive witness withdrawals.

Mr Ruto also urged Kenyans to pray for him, saying, he will be victorious. “I know you have been seeking divine intervention, but I urge you not to give up,” he said on his way to Nyeri to open the Central Kenya ASK show.

He spoke as Ms Bensouda’s office dismissed claims that witnesses were manipulated to sign statements linking President Kenyatta, Mr Ruto and former radio journalist Joshua arap Sang to the post-election chaos.

“The Office of the Prosecutor categorically rejects as false and unfounded allegations that the Prosecution coerced or manipulated witnesses to sign statements against their will, or coached witnesses. Witnesses voluntarily agree to testify before the ICC and the Office adheres to the highest standards of professionalism in its dealings with witnesses,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar Hassan has said he was not responsible for landing President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto in The Hague.

Mr Hassan, who was vice-chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights during the election chaos, said the team carried out its mandate of documenting human rights abuses at the time. Its report was heavily used by the ICC.

“The commission did its job. Its report on the atrocities, which were also investigated by other agencies such as the police, was not a finality. It was a broad overview of what happened,” he said.

Additional reporting by George Munene and David Opiyo