What to expect once the trial proceedings begin on Tuesday
Deputy President William Ruto is welcomed by his lawyer Karim Khan to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague where he is attending the Status Conference. He was accompanied by his wife Rachel (centre) and the Kenyan Ambassador to Netherlands Mrs Makena R. Muchiri
What you need to know:
- According to the ICC, images of the opening of the trial on September 10 (the first 30 minutes) will be available by satellite for 90 minutes while a 30-minute summary of the opening statements will be made available later in the day
The first party to speak on Tuesday once the ICC court is done with introductions will be the ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
The common legal representative for the victims Wilfred Nderitu and Gertrude Angote, the executive director of Kituo cha Sheria, say the prosecutor will first make her submissions before the victims, represented by the common legal representative, take the stand.
Thereafter, the defence team of Mr Ruto will make a presentation followed by Mr Sang’s defence team.
“Each of the parties and the legal representative for the victims are granted approximately two hours. It is not compulsory to use up all the allocated time. The defence teams may choose to re-distribute the combined time allowed for defence opening statements and allocate the time amongst them as they see fit. Any statements from the accused persons should be made within the allotted time,” said Ms Angote.
The ICC has indicated that the proceedings will begin around midday Dutch time or 1 pm Kenya time.
According to the ICC, images of the opening of the trial on September 10 (the first 30 minutes) will be available by satellite for 90 minutes while a 30-minute summary of the opening statements will be made available later in the day
“On September 11, a summary of further opening statements will be available by satellite,” the court said. This, too, will be a 30-minute summary.
According to Ms Angote, the prosecution had earlier indicated that it would call 46 witnesses and would require 413 hours in total for the examination.
“The prosecution has already provided a list of the first 10 witnesses it expects to call. The prosecution is further expected to provide, prior to the commencement of trial, an updated list of witnesses listing all witnesses in the expected order of call. The list will exclude witnesses who have withdrawn,” said Ms Angote.
As for what the parties would say during the opening statement, Ms Angote said it is hard to predict.
“The defence will most likely highlight their innocence, and depending on the angle taken by the common legal representatives, the victims might argue for justice. This really is anyone’s guess,” she said.
