Deputy President William Ruto has written to the International Criminal Court to be allowed not to continuously attend his trials at the Hague which are expected to begin on May 28.
Ruto extensively detailed in the application that the request not to attend all sessions of the hearing, is in keeping with Article 63 (1) of the Rome statute which terms the appearance of an accused before court as a right.
He further argued that since his appearance is by right, he is entitled to waiver the right. Ruto has thus through the lead lawyer of his defence team Karim Khan applied to be represented at his trials by his council.
In the application, Ruto has made the request in light of now being the Deputy President after being duly elected on March 4, and being sworn in on April 9.
“Mr Ruto is now a sitting deputy head of State. In view of this change in circumstances, the Defence have further reflected on how to render meaningful and effective the rights and obligations of an accused under the Statute,” the application reads.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda who made a statement after the April 9 swearing in of Uhuru Kenyatta as president and William Ruto as deputy president said that the trial proceedings will continue irrespective of the political ongoings in Kenya and that the swearing in will not be taken into account in the course of the case.
Ruto has said that his application to be absent from the court will not undermine the efforts of ICC in discharging justice, but will instead allow him to carry out his constitutional obligation to the Kenyan electorate.
“Mr Ruto has voluntarily surrendered to the jurisdiction of the Court. Specifically, Mr Ruto is cooperating with the Court, is actively participating in proceedings, and has attended before the Court on various occasions.”
On February 28 Ruto wrote to the ICC asking to be allowed to attend the hearing via video link, an application that is yet to be determined by the court. Victims of the 2007-2008 post election violence for which Uhuru is accused of perpetrating called on the court to reject the application.
“Allowing the accused to attend trial through communication technology alternatives would in the first place drastically diminish the evidentiary value of the testimony to be given,” the victim said through their lawyer Wilfred Nderitu.
Ruto argued that though the application to appear before the court is yet to be determined, if approved, would present an alternative to appearing physically. Ruto’s hearing is set to kick off on May 28 while that of President Kenyatta is set to begin on June 9.
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