William Ruto hires new lawyer ahead of ICC trial

Deputy President William Ruto. (Photo:File/Standard)

By Felix Olick

Nairobi, Kenya: Deputy President William Ruto is tightening his legal team ahead of next month’s commencement of his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a new strategy to fight off charges against him, Mr Ruto has hired Essa Faal, a former defence lawyer for the former Civil Service chief Francis Muthaura.

Already, the ICC Registry has informed the three-judge bench handling Mr Ruto’s case of the new appointment.

Mr Faal has been appointed as the co-lead counsel. “The Registry hereby informs the Honourable Judges of the Trial Chamber V (A) of the appointment of Essa Faal by Karim Khan, the lead counsel for Mr Ruto,” reads the filing made Tuesday.

This is the second appointment Ruto is making from the defunct legal team of Mr Muthaura. Khan, who will  lead Ruto’s defence team when the trial open on September 10, was the lead counsel for the former civil service head before the Prosecution dropped his charges.

Gambian

The Deputy President’s other lawyers are Mr David Hooper, Shyamala Alagendra, and Venkateswari Alagendra.

It is not clear whether Mr Ruto has dropped Kenyan lawyer Kioko Kilukumi as part of his defence team. According to latest filings, Mr Kilukumi’s name is missing from the list of lawyers lined up to defend Ruto at The Hague.

Faal, a Gambian, has previously worked for the Office of the Prosecutor regarding cases in Darfur, Sudan and rose to become the senior trial lawyer for those cases by November 1, 2007. He, however, resigned on March 31, 2011 and on April 22 informed the deputy prosecutor that he had joined the defence team of Muthaura.

Former ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo who believed he was privy to confidential prosecution information about the Kenyan suspects opposed his joining of the defence team.