Monday 23 January 2012

Prominent Kenyans await court ruling over poll violence


Uhuru Kenyatta Uhuru Kenyatta is accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) is due to rule whether two Kenyan presidential hopefuls and four other officials should stand trial over violence after the 2007 election.
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-minister William Ruto are accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution.
The other men face similar allegations. All six say they are innocent.
More than 1,200 people were killed in weeks of unrest after the 2007 poll.
Some 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes.
The violence began as clashes between supporters of the two rival presidential candidates - Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki - but it snowballed into a bloody round of score settling and communal violence.
'Big day' The ICC judges are due to meet at 10:30 GMT in The Hague to decide if all or some of the six suspect should stand trial.

ICC Suspects

Kibaki allies in 2007
  • Uhuru Kenyatta, deputy PM and finance minister
  • Francis Kirimi Muthaura, secretary to the cabinet
  • Mohammed Hussein Ali, former police chief
Odinga allies in 2007
  • Henry Kosgey, former minister for industrialisation
  • William Ruto, former education minister
  • Joshua Arap Sang, radio executive
Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has asked to bring two separate cases, reflecting the ethnic divisions behind Kenya's post-election violence.
Mr Kenyatta, a supporter of Mr Kibaki, is accused of organising a campaign of violence including murder and rape against Odinga supporters.
Prosecutors say he met members of a secretive criminal organisation known as Mungiki at a shopping mall in Nairobi before the election in 2007 to arrange some of the attacks.
He denied the accusation at a preliminary hearing at The Hague-based court last September.
Mr Kenyatta, the son of the country's first President Jomo Kenyatta, is hoping to stand in next year's presidential poll, with analysts suggesting that he has a realistic chance of winning.
Two other senior Kibaki supporters face similar allegations.
The scene of clashes in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha (Jan 2008) The violence after the 2007 election took Kenya to the brink of civil war
Mr Ruto, former education minister, says he also intends to run in the election.
He and two other supporters of Mr Odinga face claims that they organised attacks on Kibaki supporters.
Monday is a big day for Kenya, as the people are eagerly awaiting the court's decision, the BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi reports.
Kenya's government has been lobbying for the cases to be dropped - a position endorsed last year by the African Union.
Mr Kibaki was eventually declared the winner of the 2007 election, and is serving his second term as president. Mr Odinga was installed as prime minister.

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