The attorney-general has said Deputy President William Ruto’s
case at the International Criminal Court is not receiving any less
attention than that given to the President’s.
Responding
to allegations that his office was not giving the case as much
attention as it should, Mr Githu Muigai said in an exclusive interview
with the Daily Nation: “I am surprised to hear people say we have done nothing about the case. We applied to be enjoined in the case as amicus curiae but the application was turned down. We will continue to engage the court because that is our responsibility as a state party.”
Rift
Valley Members of Parliament on Tuesday said they were worried that the
government is not showing much commitment to fighting the case against
the Deputy President.
They said that they have now turned to divine intervention and will be meeting at a shrine for prayers over the case.
The
MPs were thrown into panic two weeks ago when the Hague-based court
ruled that it would allow recanted evidence to be used against Mr Ruto
and his co-accused, radio journalist Joshua Sang.
ILLEGALITY OF RULING
Prof
Githu described the ruling as illegal, saying the court went back on
agreements made in negotiations not to use the evidence.
“We
received assurances, on record, during negotiations on Rule 68 that it
would not be used retroactively. We will be applying for amicus status
to make the position of the Kenyan government clear that the rule has
been applied in this case in a manner that is inconsistent with the
amendment that was made. We will continue to engage the court as far as
the illegality of this ruling is concerned,” Mr Muigai said.
He
added the matter of the ruling was not a Kenyan issue alone but
concerned many other countries and regions that were part of the
negotiations.
The attorney-general also responded to a
decision by the international court to ask the trial chamber to
determine afresh whether Kenya should be punished for allegedly
withholding evidence on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s case.
He said the country has cooperated fully with the court.
“We
have done more in providing material information to that court in those
cases than has ever been recorded in the history of that court, or
indeed in any other international tribunal dealing with such matters. We
are happy to return to the trial chamber and demonstrate that even
after the dismissal of the case against the President, we continue to
work with the court,” he said.
If Kenya is found guilty
of non-cooperation with the court, it will be reported to the Assembly
of States Parties, the group of nations that form the ICC, of which
Kenya is a member. In the extreme, the government could be reported to
the UN Security Council, which could apply sanctions after a vote.
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