Kenyatta Free as ICC Drops Charges
December 6, 2014
NAIROBI. — President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday said he was relieved to learn that ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had withdrawn criminal charges against him. President Kenyatta’s reaction came moments after Ms Bensouda announced her decision and two days after judges of Trial Chamber V (B) gave her seven days to withdraw the case if she did not have enough evidence to go to trial.
The President said the withdrawal was long overdue.
“I am excited by this news, which I have awaited ever since the day my name was announced to the world in connection with the case. I am also deeply relieved by this decision, which is overdue by 6 years,” said President Kenyatta in a statement.
He reiterated that he was innocent of the charges levelled against him.
“I have repeatedly declared my innocence to the people of Kenya and (to) the whole world. I repeat this even now: as relates the incidents comprising the Kenyan cases at the ICC, my conscience is absolutely clear,” he said in his statement.
He said the Kenyan cases were rushed and lacked proper investigation or preparation, adding that there was a strong interest to stigmatise (the) accused persons. He said the ICC was expected to dispense justice with integrity and without undue considerations, adding that the way the case was handled undermined the principles of justice.
“For the Prosecutor to sustain an obviously deficient case for so long demonstrates beyond doubt the intensity of pressure exerted by improper interests to pollute and undermine the philosophy of international justice,” President Kenyatta said.
The President said the 2007-2008 post-election violence victims would not get satisfaction from the ICC due to what he called the “Prosecutor’s decision to compromise a quest for justice in favour of political considerations.”
“Just as the ICC failed me, it has also failed the victims of the 2007-2008 post-election violence.
“They were killed, maimed, displaced, dispossessed and utterly traumatised. I have been victimised, libelled and senselessly profiled by the same defective process,” said the President.
He said his government was working to ensure that the post-election violence victims ultimately get justice in Kenya. “The world may have failed them, but they will not be let down at home,” he reiterated.
The President, at the same time, expressed his solidarity with Deputy President William Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang, who are facing similar cases at The Hague.
He thanked African leaders who, through the African Union, stood in solidarity with him as he faced the ICC.
The President’s reaction came even as the lawyer representing the victims of post-election violence at the ICC, Fergal Gaynor, termed the withdrawal of the case against Kenyatta a disappointment.
Gaynor, in a statement issued soon after Ms Bensouda announced her decision to withdraw the case against the President, said the victims were still crying for justice. In a related development, lack of evidence after the withdrawal of key prosecution witnesses and not adept litigation by lawyers representing Uhuru Kenyatta led to the collapse of the case, a Nairobi-based lawyer has said.
Lawyer Dennis Mosota, who is a member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), says the prosecution faced its biggest challenge when witnesses started pulling out of the case. Some withdrew citing their own security, others just decided not to testify and others admitted having given false evidence that was used to confirm the charges. Key among them was Witness Number 4 whose evidence was central to the confirmation of the charges.
The witness had given a detailed account of his alleged meetings with President Uhuru Kenyatta and members of the Mungiki sect at Yaya Centre and State House, Nairobi on November 26, 2007 and another at Nairobi Club on January 3, 2008.
The withdrawal of the case against President Kenyatta, according to Mosota, was therefore a foregone conclusion after the case was confirmed by the Pre-Trial Chamber on January 23, 2012, a Nairobi lawyer said.
— Daily Nation.
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| Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has been released from standing trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. |
NAIROBI. — President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday said he was relieved to learn that ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had withdrawn criminal charges against him. President Kenyatta’s reaction came moments after Ms Bensouda announced her decision and two days after judges of Trial Chamber V (B) gave her seven days to withdraw the case if she did not have enough evidence to go to trial.
The President said the withdrawal was long overdue.
“I am excited by this news, which I have awaited ever since the day my name was announced to the world in connection with the case. I am also deeply relieved by this decision, which is overdue by 6 years,” said President Kenyatta in a statement.
He reiterated that he was innocent of the charges levelled against him.
“I have repeatedly declared my innocence to the people of Kenya and (to) the whole world. I repeat this even now: as relates the incidents comprising the Kenyan cases at the ICC, my conscience is absolutely clear,” he said in his statement.
He said the Kenyan cases were rushed and lacked proper investigation or preparation, adding that there was a strong interest to stigmatise (the) accused persons. He said the ICC was expected to dispense justice with integrity and without undue considerations, adding that the way the case was handled undermined the principles of justice.
“For the Prosecutor to sustain an obviously deficient case for so long demonstrates beyond doubt the intensity of pressure exerted by improper interests to pollute and undermine the philosophy of international justice,” President Kenyatta said.
The President said the 2007-2008 post-election violence victims would not get satisfaction from the ICC due to what he called the “Prosecutor’s decision to compromise a quest for justice in favour of political considerations.”
“Just as the ICC failed me, it has also failed the victims of the 2007-2008 post-election violence.
“They were killed, maimed, displaced, dispossessed and utterly traumatised. I have been victimised, libelled and senselessly profiled by the same defective process,” said the President.
He said his government was working to ensure that the post-election violence victims ultimately get justice in Kenya. “The world may have failed them, but they will not be let down at home,” he reiterated.
The President, at the same time, expressed his solidarity with Deputy President William Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang, who are facing similar cases at The Hague.
He thanked African leaders who, through the African Union, stood in solidarity with him as he faced the ICC.
The President’s reaction came even as the lawyer representing the victims of post-election violence at the ICC, Fergal Gaynor, termed the withdrawal of the case against Kenyatta a disappointment.
Gaynor, in a statement issued soon after Ms Bensouda announced her decision to withdraw the case against the President, said the victims were still crying for justice. In a related development, lack of evidence after the withdrawal of key prosecution witnesses and not adept litigation by lawyers representing Uhuru Kenyatta led to the collapse of the case, a Nairobi-based lawyer has said.
Lawyer Dennis Mosota, who is a member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), says the prosecution faced its biggest challenge when witnesses started pulling out of the case. Some withdrew citing their own security, others just decided not to testify and others admitted having given false evidence that was used to confirm the charges. Key among them was Witness Number 4 whose evidence was central to the confirmation of the charges.
The witness had given a detailed account of his alleged meetings with President Uhuru Kenyatta and members of the Mungiki sect at Yaya Centre and State House, Nairobi on November 26, 2007 and another at Nairobi Club on January 3, 2008.
The withdrawal of the case against President Kenyatta, according to Mosota, was therefore a foregone conclusion after the case was confirmed by the Pre-Trial Chamber on January 23, 2012, a Nairobi lawyer said.
— Daily Nation.
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