4 days ago 42581
– President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto saw their ICC cases terminated
– The judges reached the decision for lack of enough evidence
– Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has now blasted the ICC for letting the two free during their cases
– Annan believes the ICC should have locked them up to avoid tampering with evidence
– Annan saw the mediation that formed the grand coalition government after the disputed 2007 elections
Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed his dismay at the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to let President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto be free as their cases continued.
Writing for Financial Times, Annan said that the decision to have the two outside bars jeopardized the process of obtaining enough evidence to prosecute them.
The Ghanaian also believes that the decision to let the two free gave them a chance to fight the cases that were facing them, effectively defeating justice.
“The president and vice president were the ones in the dock and so they put lots of effort and resources into fighting the case,” Annan wrote.
President Uhuru Kenyatta chats with his lawyers at the ICC chambers. Photo: Star
He added that just like other suspects who have been in detention as their cases continue, the ICC should have detained Uhuru and Ruto at the Scheveningen Dutch prison complex. This way, they would not tamper with the cases.
The suspects Annan was referring to include former Congolese President Jean Pierre Bemba, former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and former Liberia President Charles Taylor.
The three are facing charges related to crimes against humanity.
Annan also blasted those complaining that the ICC is biased on handling international cases and concentrates more on African affairs.
He said that the allegations are not true and added that Africans are not the first.
He said that ‘it is wrong for them to say that only African leaders are put into the dock’, adding that they should not pretend that they were the first.
Annan was the chief mediator in the process that led to the formation of the grand coalition following the disputed 2007 election.
Deputy President William Ruto follows proceedings of his case at the Hague. Photo: Yahoo
Violence erupted after Mwai Kibaki was declared winner amid controversy. More than 1,300 people were killed.
A commission chaired by Judge Philip Waki was tasked to investigate and establish those behind the violence.
Eventually, Waki handed over a report to former ICC prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo. In the report, six names of suspects were handed over. Among them were Uhuru and Ruto.
However, the two Kenyan leaders’ cases were terminated by the ICC on grounds that there was no sufficient evidence to grant their prosecution. The other four also saw their cases ended.
Current prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, however, accused the two of tampering with witnesses.
Image: Telegraph
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