THE HAGUE: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s chances of having to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity dropped sharply yesterday when the ICC prosecutor requested an indefinite delay in the case.
Asking judges to shelve the trial start, the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor cited lack of evidence and Nairobi’s refusal to cooperate. “The prosecution respectfully submits that the appropriate course of action is to further adjourn the case until such time the government of Kenya executes the (prosecution’s) revised request in full,” Fatou Bensouda said in papers filed at the Hague-based court.
“The situation is the same as when the prosecution sought a (previous) adjournment of the trial.... The evidence is insufficient to prove Uhuru Kenyatta’s alleged criminal responsibility beyond reasonable doubt,” Bensouda said.
The trial of the Kenyan leader on five counts related to post-election violence dating back to 2007-2008 has been dogged by repeated delays. Most recently, judges in March postponed the trial start to October 7 in order to give Nairobi a chance to look for requested financial documents, in an apparent final push by prosecutors to form a case against the powerful African leader.
Prosecutors hope the documents — among them company records, bank statements, records of land transfers, tax returns, phone records and foreign exchange records — will prove a link between Kenyatta and the deadly unrest in 2007-08 in which 1,200 died and 600,000 others were displaced.
So far, prosecutors received only 73 pages of documentation with “some... not responsive” to the request. “Even the responsive material is a fraction of the information sought,” Bensouda added.
Kenyatta, Bensouda added “is the head of a government that has so far failed fully to comply with its obligations to the court.”
Judges could now also rule that Kenya is refusing to cooperate and refer the matter to the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties.
Bensouda stressed that prosecutors were not dropping the five counts against Kenyatta, ranging from murder and rape to deportation and persecution following the vote in his East African state, saying that would be “inappropriate”.
Kenyatta has lobbied intensively to muster support against the tribunal and his lawyers have previously slapped down Bensouda’s allegations, saying the case has collapsed.
AFP
