Uhuru to push for case end

By Irene Githinji @gitshee
Uhuru Kenyatta will this morning appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC), where through his lawyers, he is expected to present compelling legal argument to have the case against him terminated for lack of evidence.
During the Status Conference to be held at Trial Chamber V(b), the defence is expected to make yet another attempt to have the court terminate the case against Kenyatta and subsequently clear his name. At a joint address to the two Houses of Parliament, Uhuru had on Monday said: “Four years ago, I watched in disbelief as I was named, with five others, one of those suspected of bearing the greatest responsibility for the post election violence”

The session today will also have representatives from the Office of the Prosecution (OTP) and Legal Representatives for Victims. Already, the tempo for Uhuru’s push for termination of the case which has been his position since 2010 is in motion with his defence last month rejecting a request by the Office of The Prosecutor seeking adjournment as well as the arguments by Attorney General Githu Muigai in yesterday’s session against claims that the Kenya government was not cooperating with the court.
On September 10, Kenyatta’s defence team filed a response to the Prosecution Notice regarding the provisional trial date and request to terminate the case, in which they strongly opposed the request for another adjournment.
These are among the issues that the chamber will deliberate on today though the judges may make the ruling on the matter on whether to terminate the case or heed the prosecution’s request to have it indefinitely adjourned until it would be ready with witnesses and evidence to proceed at a later date.
Last week, Trial Chamber V(b) rejected an application to excuse Kenyatta, saying Status Conference constitutes a critical juncture in the proceedings and that the matters to be discussed directly impact on the interests of the accused, victims and witnesses.
Yesterday, the Prosecutor and the Kenyan Government were engaged in accusations and counter accusations on the state of co-operation in the case against Kenyatta. While Prosecution counsel Benjamin Gumpert said the case was still at a deadlock, arguing the government has been reluctant to provide crucial information it requires to advance Kenyatta’s case, Githu gave a spirited defence, saying the Prosecution has all the material it had requested for, within the time it indicated and no court order could compel institutions to produce more information than they already have.
Asked by the judges whether the status conference held yesterday had sorted out pending issues, Gumpert said nothing had changed and that the matter should be referred to the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) for Kenya allegedly failing to co-operate. Gumpert said they are still in a position of speculation, adding that it was fair to say that nothing in the 75-page document provided by the Government of Kenya made the prosecutor’s case against Kenyatta any stronger.
“The Prosecution’s position is that throughout the two hours of the Status Conference, there has been no indication from the Government representative that they intend to adopt any of the measures the Chamber has suggested to overcome what they say is the impossibility of providing any more information and as long as that remains the case, we are deadlocked,” Gumpert submitted.
But Githu tore into the assertion that the case had hit a deadlock, saying the Government is ready to respond to Prosecution’s requests within 72 hours if the prosecutor provides specific information on what he requires, instead of making ambiguous and unspecified requests.
The A-G also termed an argument that the government is not cooperating with the ICC because Kenyatta is the president as fallacious, saying that the process started way before the General Election. Just because the Prosecution is not satisfied with what it has, Githu said, it should not be misconstrued to mean that there is no co-operation and that the court should decide.
He said the government is being put in an embarrassing and difficult situation because it appears as though it is being told to use all the machinery it has to obtain and give information the Prosecution requires. “It is untrue to suggest we are deadlocked because the Government is failing to do something we have offered many alternatives, we are asking for actionable information.
It is also not true that our Registries are non-functional, give us information and we will supply within 72 hours…We are being made sacrificial lambs over a matter that has nothing to do with the republic,” Githu submitted. Gumpert said they are yet to receive bank statements they have sought for the last three years, despite the government being in a position to obtain them.
He also said they have not obtained information on income tax returns and even displayed to the court a form from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) which he said was not satisfactorily filled. “We do not want to know how much tax Kenyatta has paid but directorship which is not on this form. The three-month worth of information provided were not satisfactory to us and we are still missing 33 months worth of information,” Gumpert said.
Once again, issues on motor vehicles registered to Kenyatta, telephone records as well as land and property was raised but the A-G maintained that the Prosecution has to give specific information if they are to be assisted. Gumpert said the Prosecution was not satisfied with some of the information they have received.
For instance, he said, the prosecution was uncomfortable with information showing that between December 2007-January 2008, Kenyatta only communicated only five times. According to him, two witnesses have suggested that Kenyatta had a telephone number ending with the digits …891.