Friday, December 4, 2020 – International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, now wants cases against Deputy President William Ruto and journalist, Joshua arap Sang revived.
Speaking during an interview yesterday, Bensouda clarified that Ruto and Sang’s cases were vacated and not thrown out of court.
Sang and Ruto’s cases were vacated in April 2016 after Ruto and Sang applied for their acquittal citing lack of enough evidence.
According to Bensouda, ICC is ready to receive any fresh information that would incriminate the duo. She called on the government or any individual privy to the case to provide substantial information.
The prosecutor stated that the judges cited political interference in the case as one of the reasons for vacating the case.
“As you are aware, on April 5, 2016, Trial Chamber V (A) vacated the charges against William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang, without prejudice to the Prosecution bringing a new case in the future or in a different form, in light of new evidence.”
“As a general matter, in accordance with the Art. 15 of Rome Statue – the founding treaty of the ICC – any individual or group from anywhere in the world may send information on alleged crimes to the ICC Prosecutor, who is duty-bound to protect the confidentiality of the information received, treat it with full independence and impartiality,” Bensouda said.
Her sentiments came a few days after lawyer Paul Gicheru surrendered himself to ICC. He represented witnesses in Ruto’s ICC case and was accused of interfering with it by blackmailing and intimidating some of the witnesses who had incriminated the DP.
It comes days after Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti indicated that he might revive the post-election cases, a statement that rattled Ruto and his allies.
E! News Blog
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