Bensouda: ICC timelines won’t change

By FELIX OLICK in Nuremburg, Germany

Even if cleared by local courts to run for the top job, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto have no hope of buying time to take part in a run-off should the presidential contest go to a second vote as expected.

A day after it emerged the date for the run-off coincides with the start of one of the cases, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) say they will oppose any calls for a postponement.

This means the Deputy Prime Minister and Eldoret North MP will not be in the country for a run-off, if one were called, creating a challenge to their presidential bids.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expects no changes to the timetable set during the status conferences on the two Kenya cases early this year. “We will stick to the judicial calendar of the Court, irrespective of the ongoing political happenings in Kenya,” she told journalists in Germany on Thursday.

Although she did not state how long the first phase of the trials is likely to take, the two accused may be required to be present at The Hague, Netherlands for weeks or even months.

Ms Bensouda was speaking on the sidelines of a conference to mark the ICC’s tenth anniversary. ICC President Sang-Hyun Song and Hans Peter Kaul, one of the pre-trial judges in the Kenya cases, attended the conference.

On Wednesday, electoral officials released a revised calendar that sets April 11 as the date for a run-off vote in the presidential election. Pre-trial judges at the ICC set the start dates for the Kenya cases as April 10 and 11.?

Ruto and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang are the accused in the first case, while Uhuru goes on trial alongside former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura a day later. Given the requirement for ICC accused to appear at trial in person, this is likely to complicate the plans of two presidential hopefuls.

Uhuru is now working to avoid a run-off for which he would have little time to campaign and in which he would be unable to vote.

Polling firm Synovate this week said The National Alliance hopeful seems headed for a second-round victory after trailing ODM leader Raila Odinga in the first. Neither candidate comes close to meeting the 50-per-cent-plus-one-vote threshold required by law to win in the first round.

International legal experts at the conference argued that no immunity enjoyed by any Head of State would bar the court from exercising its jurisdiction as stated in Article 27 of the Rome Statute.

Uhuru and Ruto are yet to overcome another judicial hurdle in the Kenyan courts.?The High Court has been asked to rule on whether they are eligible to run for State House with the ICC cases hanging over their necks.

Speaking during the conference, Bensouda also rebutted claims that the ICC is targeting only African states even as she emphasised the need for co-operation of State parties with the ICC. Her sentiments were echoed by the ICC President who noted that lack of cooperation from state parties is one of the major challenges facing the court.

Song said that co-operation is crucial in the provision of certain evidence, identification and seizure of the suspects assets and enforcement of warrants of arrest since the court have no police force.