ICC plans remain guarded as witness arrives

By FELIX OLICK at The Hague

The Prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC) remained guarded on their strategy to prove the case against Deputy President William Ruto even as sources revealed that their first witness had arrived at The Hague.

Spokesperson for Prosecutor, Florence Olara, told The Standard on Saturday they are ready to proceed with the case on Tuesday as planned, but remained tight-lipped on the testimony expected from the said witness. There have been fears that the withdrawal of witnesses that has dogged the twin Kenyan cases could threaten the cases, which also involves President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Sharp scrutiny

This, even as the prosecution preparedness to prove the charges against the two leaders came into sharp scrutiny this week.

“The case is before the judges and any discussion on witness testimony or number of witnesses should remain a matter to be discussed in court. The Chamber’s decision is that case proceeds on Tuesday — that decision has not changed,” Ms Olara said, in an exclusive interview.

Key witnesses who linked the two leaders to the bloodshed that engulfed the country after the bungled 2007 presidential polls have withdrawn their testimony, leaving Gambia-born prosecutor Fatou Bensouda with sleepless nights to prove her case ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.

Proceedings had to be adjourned last Wednesday, just a day after the trials kicked off, because the prosecution was not ready to present its first witness.

This even as it emerged that three more witnesses lined up against Ruto and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang had pulled out at the last minute.

Manipulated witnesses

But Olara dismissed as speculations that the prosecution coerced and manipulated witnesses to testify against the two leaders.

“The Office of the Prosecutor categorically rejects as false and unfounded any allegations that the Prosecution coerced or manipulated witnesses to sign statements against their will, or coached witnesses in any way,” she said, yesterday

She added, “Witnesses voluntarily agree to testify before the ICC and the Office adheres to the highest standards of professionalism in its dealings with witnesses.

Any witnesses who have complaints regarding their treatment by the Prosecution should not spread untested accounts in the media, but bring them before the judges of the ICC who will decide on the veracity or otherwise of their versions.” On Wednesday, judges expressed their displeasure with the prosecution move to request for adjournment terming it a ‘shame’.

Hoping to proceed

“It’s a shame really because we were hoping to proceed today, but that is the reality we have (to grapple with),” Nigerian judge Chile Eboi-Osuji said as he adjourned trial proceedings to next Tuesday. In previous applications to the three-judge panel, the ICC Prosecutor had complained that some key witnesses with ‘irreplaceable’ testimony have been intimidated, compromised, or threatened with death to pull out of the case.

“The insiders’ evidence is irreplaceable. Were they to be tampered with, it would substantially affect the prosecution’s case. This creates a powerful incentive to interfere with the insiders,” Bensouda said of Mungiki witnesses against Uhuru. These claims got Bensouda and Ruto’s lead counsel Karim Khan into an early tussle at the ICC with the latter claiming withdrawal of witnesses was just an example of incompetent investigations launched by Ms Bensouda’s predecessor, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo.