Deadline for States to contest decision lapses

The deadline for the five African countries to contest a decision by the ICC requiring Deputy President William Ruto to attend all hearings of his case has elapsed.

The ICC Appeals chamber had last week allowed Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Eritrea to file their submissions on the issue by Wednesday.

Mr Ruto’s defence team and ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on the other hand are expected to respond to any observations filed by the applicants by close of business Friday.

On Wednesday, ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah could not immediately confirm whether the countries had indeed filed the submissions by the time of going to press.

“I will have to check,” Mr Abdallah told the Nation on Wednesday evening.

EXEMPT FROM HEARINGS

The five countries had last week written to the ICC to exempt Mr Ruto from attending all hearings of his case in The Hague.

The countries, which applied to be joined 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.

They will be contesting the interpretation of Article 63 of the Rome Statute, which disposes that “the accused shall be present during the trial.”

Mr Sang and Mr Ruto face charges of murder, deportation or forcible transfer of population and persecution over the 2007/8 post-election violence that left 1,133 people dead and displaced 650,000 others.

The applications follow Ms Bensouda’s appeal against Trial Chamber V(a) decision granting Mr Ruto leave to be away during the trial — except for specified hearings. The prosecutor argued that justice for the victims required the accused to be present in court throughout the trial.

SUSPENDED RULING

The court then suspended the ruling pending the appeal.

The countries want the ICC to strike a balance between its jurisdiction and the responsibilities of those who occupy high office.
Rwanda, which is yet to ratify the Statute, argued that its submissions will help the ICC clarify how people who hold high office will be treated while facing trial.

The country’s Attorney-General and Justice minister Johnston Busingye said granting Mr Ruto his request would bolster the effectiveness of the court “by demonstrating that the court’s framework can accommodate a flexible and pragmatic approach…in proceedings by those occupying high office within the court.”

Tanzania’s AG Fredrick Mwita said exempting the DP from some of the hearings would enhance cooperation between the court and state parties.