International Criminal Court judges to review Uhuru Kenyatta wealth report
What you need to know:
- The conference, to be held in private, brings together all the parties, including the government of Kenya, the prosecutor and Mr Kenyatta’s lawyers.
- The conference comes after the prosecutor informed the Trial Chamber V (b) on June 30 that she had received some of the records she wanted for the case to proceed.
The International Criminal Court judges assemble on Wednesday to review the government of Kenya’s response to an order for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s financial records during the post-election violence.
The ICC judges ordered the government in March to present the records or be cited for non-cooperation after Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she needed them to sustain the case.
The conference, to be held in private, brings together all the parties, including the government of Kenya, the prosecutor and Mr Kenyatta’s lawyers.
ICC outreach coordinator Maria Kamara on Tuesday said the conference will provide parties a chance to inform the court on how far they had gone in observing the order.
“The parties will inform the judges whether the request has been executed fully or partially, or it has not been and to raise further issues on the request,” Ms Kamara said on Tuesday.
On March 31, the trial chamber adjourned to enable the Kenyan government to provide information.
The judges asked for a brief on the progress every two months before the case formally begins on October 7.
The conference comes after the prosecutor informed the Trial Chamber V (b) on June 30 that she had received some of the records she wanted for the case to proceed.
“Following an agreement reached between the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) and the Government of Kenya at a meeting in May 2014, the OTP has received a quantity of material from the GoK.
“The OTP is currently analysing the said material, and assessing it for disclosure, and expects to conclude and summarise that analysis in time for the Status Conference hearing scheduled for July 9, 2014,” Ms Bensouda informed the Trial Chamber on June 30.
WANTS EXTENSIVE RECORDS
Attorney-General Githu Muigai will present the government’s position to the judges. He has questioned the possibility of complying with the request but he is expected to inform the court of Kenya’s compliance after presenting some of the requested information to Ms Bensouda last week.
The prosecutor wants extensive records concerning Mr Kenyatta, including his assets, phone details, M-Pesa transactions and value added tax information as she attempts to prove he financed the post-election violence that happened in 2007-2008.
The records will determine whether to proceed with the charges against the President or terminate it for lack of prosecutable evidence.
On Tuesday, the court also held a closed status conference for Deputy President William Ruto and co-accused Joshua Sang. Ms Kamara said the conference was closed because of “issues of confidentiality and sensitivity of the matters”.
The judges will make a decision at a later date.
