ICC: Second witness in Ruto case testifies in public

Deputy President William Ruto(R) and his wife at The Hague, second witness in his case to testify in public but with voice and face distortions.

By Felix Olick 

The HAGUE, NETHERLANDS: The second prosecution witness against Deputy President William Ruto and Radio Journalist Joshua Sang on Monday testified in public.

The three judge bench handling the case ruled that the witness identified only as 326 will testify in public but with protective measure within the courtroom.

Presiding judge Chile Eboi-Osuji said that the protective measures will include voice and face distortion, use of pseudonym, limited private sessions and redacted public records.

"Your voice and face are not exposed. But your testimony can be heard by members of the public," Osuji told the witness who has already taken to the stand. 

The Nigerian Judge said that the measures are meant to protect the identity of the witness who is among the protected witness. 

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The second witness is a man who implicates ODM in the violence that engulfed the country after the disputed 2007 presidential elections. 

The witness claims ODM bankrolled the youths who went on a killing spree; raping women and evicting people from their homes in the Rift Valley.

The witness claims that he has evidence that the Orange party gave out large sums of money to Mr Ruto which was withdrawn from a local bank and then distributed to the youth.

But the defence counsel led by Karim Khan is already protesting the use of pseudonyms that is thought to include the name of top ODM brass.