ICC Assigns Three Judges to Collapsed Cases against President Kenyatta, Ruto

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Presidency has assigned three judges to Trial Chamber IV on the collapsed cases against President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.

Judges Robert Fremr, Reine Alapini-Gansou and Kimberly Prost have been tasked to handle the cases against Kenyatta, Ruto and former journalist Joshua arap Sang, which were withdrawn after key witnesses pulled out, while others recanted their evidence.

The office of the prosecutor had decried what it termed as frustration by the Kenya government in its attempts to compel witnesses to appear before the Hague-based court.

It also accused the Kenyan government of sabotaging its efforts to get access to confidential documents such as bank statements of the suspects.

In 2016, ICC judges dismissed the charges against Ruto and Sang on grounds that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to convict the suspects.

In their ruling, Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji and Robert Fremr noted the evidence presented by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda was insufficient to propel the cases to trial and freed the two.The judges also cited witness interference as reason for the collapse.

In 2014, Bensouda filed a notice withdrawing the charges against President Kenyatta, accusing the state of harassing and intimidating potential witnesses.

The three had been charged with crimes against humanity, among them; murder, rape, persecution and deportation. The charges were in connection to violence that flared after Kenya’s 2007 disputed presidential elections, which left more than 1,000 people dead.