International Criminal Courts in the Netherlands Targets Kenyans for Prosecution

President Mwai Kibaki (second left) and Mr Raila Odinga (second right) with mediator Kofi Annan (centre), Ms Graca Machel and Mr Benjamin Mkapa after they held talks at Harambee House, Nairobi, on February 8, 2008. a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

[March 08, 2011]

ICC issues summons for six Kenyans on charges of masterminding post-polls havoc

NAIRBOI, Mar 08, 2011 (Sudan Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Judges at the Pre-Trial Chamber of The International Criminal Court's (ICC) have agreed to a request by the court's Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to issue summons for six high-profile Kenyans accused of masterminding the 2007-08 post-elections violence in the country, sources told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

The accused are Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, suspended Education Minister William Ruto, Minister for Industrialization Henry Kosgey, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, former police chief Hussien Ali and Kass FM radio presenter Joshua Sang.

As many as 1,200 people were killed and 500,000 were displaced in the turmoil that erupted in Kenya when the incumbent Mwai Kibaki who leads the Party of National Unity (PNU) was declared winner of the 2007's elections against his rival Raila Odinga of the opposition Orange Democratic Party (ODM).

The six suspects are split evenly between the PNU and the ODM.

The crisis ended in 2008 when the two rivals signed a power sharing agreement and formed a coalition government led by Kibaki as a president and Odinga as Prime Minister.

The ICC prosecutor was authorized to investigate post-elections violence after Kenyan politicans thwarted attempts to establish a local tribunal. Kenya is a member of the Rome Statute which founded the ICC and thus under legal obligation to cooperate.

Opinion polls conducted in Kenya show that an overwhelming majority of the population supports the ICC intervention to try the suspects who allegedly masterminded the violence.

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