ICC judges allow Ruto to skip trial despite Bensouda's appeal

The International Criminal Court on Thursday allowed Deputy President William Ruto to skip attending the resumption of his case despite a contest from the Prosecution.

ICC Trial Chamber V (a) judges granted Mr Ruto’s excusal but only for Thursday based on his earlier application to be absent.

“The excusal is limited to a single day. The Chamber considers that granting the request will result in Mr Ruto’s absence only for a period which is strictly necessary and that such a limited excusal is consistent with absence from trial remaining the exception and not the general rule in this case,” the Court announced in a brief statement after the ruling.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had on Wednesday made a three-point submission to the Chamber appealing the excusal.

She argued that the earlier basis for allowing him to stay away from the case was now invalid.

The Prosecutor said Mr Ruto had been granted leave to fill the constitutional requirement of being in the country while President Kenyatta was away on official duty (in Kuwait).

(Read:  Bensouda wants Ruto barred from ICC talks)

“The prosecution requests Trial Chamber V(a) to reconsider and vacate its decision to grant excusal of the accused, Mr William Samoei Ruto, from attending his trial on 21 November 2013,” she argued in her petition.

EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Mr Ruto has been banking on the October 25 decision by the Appeals Chamber of the ICC that ruled that the absence of an accused person from trial is allowed under exceptional circumstance.

Such person would have to explicitly waive their right to be present at trial.

This Appeals Chamber concluded that while a trial chamber enjoys discretion under Article 63(1) which requires trial to happen in the presence of the accused, that discretion is based on each case.

Mr Ruto had on November 11 also submitted his waiver of presence thus allowing the trial to proceed without him attending it.

But in her petition, Ms Bensouda argued that that she had been “informed” Mr Ruto would be leading a delegation to the ongoing Assembly of State Parties meeting meaning both he and Mr Kenyatta would be away at the same time.

However, President Kenyatta returned to the country on Wednesday evening, and Mr Ruto is not leading the Kenyan delegation.

Instead, the Deputy President was due to arrive at The Hague on Thursday afternoon but it wasn’t clear if he will attend the ASP.

The drama at the Court occurred even as Kenya pushed for amendments on a number of articles on the Rome Statute.

The Kenyan delegation led by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed argues the articles have caused tension between the court and the African continent.

These amendments include suggestions that heads of States be granted immunity until they leave office and that it shouldn’t be a requirement for the accused to be present during trial.

But moments after she addressed the plenary at the ASP, activists told reporters that Kenya’s push was a ploy to weaken its operation and encourage impunity.