Kenya Plans to Appeal ICC Ruling on Admissibility of Cases
Kenyan Attorney General Amos Wako plans to appeal the International Criminal Court’s decision to reject a government challenge to the admissibility of two cases brought before The Hague-based court on post-election violence.
The ICC’s pre-trial chamber didn’t hear oral arguments from the Kenyan government that are “fundamental to the development of international criminal law,” Wako said in a statement today. The ICC’s pre-trial chamber ruled the cases are admissible because Kenya failed to show it’s moving ahead with proceedings against the accused, the court said yesterday. Kenya has five days to file an appeal the ruling.
The East African nation should have a chance to present to the appeal court the latest status of local investigations and changes Kenya has made to its judicial system that would allow it to take over the cases, according to the statement that was e-mailed from Wako’s office in Nairobi, the capital.
The ICC is due to start hearings in September to determine whether six Kenyan suspects, including Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Francis Muthaura, head of the civil service, and former police chief Hussein Ali, will stand trial or have the charges against them dropped.
The suspects are accused of orchestrating two months of violence after a disputed election in December 2007 that left 1,500 people dead and displaced another 300,000. All six men deny accusations of crimes against humanity.
The violence ended when President Mwai Kibaki signed a power-sharing accord with then-opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was installed in the newly created post of prime minister.
Wako said he will meet with British lawyers Geoffrey Nice and Rodney Dixon in London on June 3 to discuss the appeal.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah McGregor in Nairobi at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page