Bensouda gets chance to fortify Ruto charges

ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Judges at The Hague Thursday opened a window for prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to widen the scope of charges against Deputy President William Ruto. PHOTO/FILE 

In Summary

• The judges declined to allow specific charges which had been proposed by victims lawyer Wilfred Nderitu which included looting, destruction of property and physical injury.
• The judges were, however, clear that by allowing Ms Bensouda to tighten the criminal responsibility of Mr Ruto, they were not granting her express permission to amend the document containing charges

By BERNARD NAMUNANE
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Judges at The Hague Thursday opened a window for prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to widen the scope of charges against Deputy President William Ruto.

They, however, declined to allow specific charges which had been proposed by victims lawyer Wilfred Nderitu which included looting, destruction of property and physical injury.

Trial Chamber Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji, Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr asked Mr Ruto’s lawyers to prepare for the possibility of widening the scope of charges — recharacterisation in legal terms — which were brought against their client.

“The Chamber finds that, with respect to Mr Ruto, it appears there is a possibility that legal characterisation of the facts may be subject to change to accord with liability under Article 25(3)(b), (c) or (d) of the Statute,” they ruled Thursday.

The said articles provide for criminal responsibility for ordering, soliciting and inducing commitment of crimes against humanity which the Deputy President faces.

 

“The prosecution identifies specific proposed recharacterisations and requests the Chamber to give notice formally through the application of Regulation 55(2). The Chamber considers that the relief sought is sufficiently concrete that it can be granted in full conformity with the rights of the accused,” they ruled.

This means that Mr Ruto’s team will have to fight more since their client is charged, as an indirect co-perpetrator, with crimes of murder, eviction of people and persecution during the 2007/8 post-election violence.

Former journalist Joshua arap Sang also faces the same charges.

The judges were, however, clear that by allowing Ms Bensouda to tighten the criminal responsibility of Mr Ruto, they were not granting her express permission to amend the document containing charges against the Deputy President.

“The prosecution emphasised that it is not suggesting any alteration of the document containing the charges but a procedure which is separate and apart from the pre-trial charging and confirmation process,” they said.

They gave Mr Ruto’s defence team led by Mr Karim Khan until January 7, 2014 to appeal against the decision of re-characterisation of the charges.

In her application, Ms Bensouda had requested the judges to give a notice to the defence team that she is likely to widen the scope of the charges which were confirmed by the Pre-Trial Chamber against the Deputy President. This, she submitted, will enable the defence and her team to argue the case knowing certain charges are likely to take place during the trial.