ICC hearings could be held in Kenya
The ICC pre-trial judges have called for suggestions on where to conduct the confirmation hearings.
The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court Friday called for suggestions from the prosecutor, the defence and the victims
This could open a fresh battleground between the Kenyan Government and ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on whether the confirmation hearings should be held in Kenya.
Confirmation of charges hearings in the case against Eldoret North MP William Ruto, radio presenter Joshua Sang and Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey are set to start on September 1.
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, public service boss Francis Muthaura and former police commissioner Hussein Ali will have their hearings on September 21.
All six have been accused of sponsoring the post-election violence.
The venue of the hearings will depend on the weight of arguments put forward by the prosecutor, the defence and the victims.
The parties are fresh from a bruising battle over admissibility of the cases against the six Kenyans, which the government lost.
A press statement from the Pre-Trial Chamber II said the parties have until Monday, June 13, 2011 to submit their suggestions.
A confirmation of charges hearing is held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that each suspect committed each of the crimes charged.
If the charges are confirmed, the Pre-Trial Chamber commits the person for trial before a Trial Chamber, which will conduct the subsequent phase of the proceedings; the trial.
According to a statement from The Hague: “In order to properly assess the desirability and feasibility of conducting the confirmation of charges hearings in the Republic of Kenya, it was deemed valuable to receive observations from the parties and participants to the proceedings in both cases.”
Mr Moreno-Ocampo recently accused the government of shielding the suspects and reneging on the cooperation agreement with the court.
“High-ranking members of the government are misrepresenting ICC efforts to do justice for the victims as an attack against Kenyan sovereignty,” he said.
