Ruto fights to quash recanted testimony

In Summary

• Prosecution lawyer Anton Steynberg said the court’s refusal to admit the evidence, which could significantly alter the case against Mr Ruto, would be denying it a right to a fair trial.
• Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji questioned the large number of documents the prosecution intended to submit — 210 on top of the 21 already submitted — to try and prove witness intimidation.
• Mr Ruto and Mr Joshua arap Sang, a radio journalist, are the only two remaining suspects on trail at the ICC over the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

By JOHN NJAGI
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Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday sought to quash an appeal by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for pre-recorded witness statements to be admitted as evidence.

Prosecution lawyer Anton Steynberg said the court’s refusal to admit the evidence, which could significantly alter the case against Mr Ruto, would be denying it a right to a fair trial.

“We are only presenting materials that we consider relevant to establish the truth by illustrating an ongoing and concerted effort to bribe and intimidate witnesses by people close to Mr Ruto,” Mr Steynberg said. The Kenyan Government has also made an application to protest against Ms Bensouda’s appeal, saying it was an attempt to prop up a weak case.

However, Mr Steynberg said Attorney-General Githu Muigai misunderstood the Rome Statute rules and that he should have appealed to the Assembly of State Parties not to the appeals chamber.
The prosecution said out of 42 witnesses it had lined up in the case against Mr Ruto, only 29 had testified, and a “good number” were compelled to do so.

Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji questioned the large number of documents the prosecution intended to submit — 210 on top of the 21 already submitted — to try and prove witness intimidation.

“Should we allow you to bring a truckload of materials so that we can look into what satisfies the threshold of the evidence tendered? Is it a question of quantity or quality?” he asked.

Mr Ruto’s lawyer, Mr Karim Khan, said the appeal should be dismissed as it sought to introduce evidence that was “intrinsically unreliable” against Mr Ruto, denying him a fair trial.

“This court should not use a piece of paper to jail Mr Ruto despite its owner testifying under oath that it was a pack of lies,” he said.

He said the prosecution had realised that it did not have a case and was trying to “handcuff and put in strait jacket” witnesses to stick to their previous statements.

Mr Ruto and Mr Joshua arap Sang, a radio journalist, are the only two remaining suspects on trail at the ICC over the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

They face crime against humanity charges, including murder, forceful displacement of population and persecution. Mr Ruto is listed as an indirect co-perpetrator and first appeared before the court on April 7, 2011.

The other six suspects who had been charged over the violence in which 1,133 people were killed were Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, now President, Mr Francis Muthaura, then serving as head of the Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Maj-Gen Hussein Ali and the then ODM chairman Henry Kosgey. All had the charges against them dropped. Mr Ruto has also been pushing for his case to be dismissed.