ICC's Bensouda allowed to amend Uhuru charges

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda (right) and the court's director of Jurisdiction, Complementary and Cooperation Division Phakiso Mochochoko (left) field questions from IDPs at the Pipeline IDP Camp in Nakuru October 25, 2012. The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II has granted Ms Bensouda's request to re-insert a charge against Uhuru Kenyatta March 21, 2013. FILE 

By ANTHONY KARIUKI
Posted  Thursday, March 21  2013 at  17:37

The International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber II has granted the prosecution's request to re-insert a charge against Uhuru Kenyatta.Presiding Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova allowed ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to add to the Document Containing the Charges in Mr Kenyatta's case a limited factual allegation that "victims were also killed by gunshot in Naivasha".In her ruling Thursday, the judges said Ms Bensouda had given new evidence to support the allegation."Thus, from an evidentiary perspective, the Prosecutor has fulfilled her statutory duty by presenting evidence which supports her allegation that "victims were also killed by gunshot in Naivasha"."In support of the Request, the Prosecutor submitted confidential excerpts of interview transcripts of four witnesses," said Justice Trendafilova.

She said the Prosecutor had provided reasonable justification to continue with her investigations after the charges against Mr Kenyatta were confirmed by the Chamber."In the context of the present case, the Prosecutor managed to furnish the Chamber not only with evidence supporting the existence of the factual allegation, but also with a reasonable justification for the continuation of her investigation subsequent to the confirmation hearing," the judge said."The Prosecutor's justification can be summarised in the following points: 1) lack of cooperation; 2) security concerns; 3) incidents pointed out in the Prosecutor's observations regarding intimidation of witnesses, some of which were reported to the Chamber during the pre-trial phase; and 4) the difficulty in approaching insider witnesses to provide information to the Court. This is the core reason weighing in favour of granting the Request."

Mr Kenyatta, who is Kenya's President-elect, is facing crimes against humanity charges at The Hague for bearing the greatest responsibility for the 2007/08 post election violence.Some 1,133 people were killed and 650,000 others were displaced in the chaos that followed a disputed presidential poll.Others facing charges include deputy president-elect William Ruto and former radio journalist Joshua arap Sang. Mr Kenyatta's co-accused Francis Muthaura was discharged after Ms Bensouda withdrew charges facing the former head of public service. However, Ms Bensouda has insisted that Mr Kenyatta's case will go to full trial. Mr Kenyatta's trial is set to open on July 9 while Mr Ruto and Mr Sang trial is set to start on May 28.