The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday rejected a request by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s lawyers to have him excused from a hearing next week, saying the case was at a “critical juncture.”
“The chamber, by majority finds that the requirements of justice in this case necessitate the physical presence of the accused in court,” The Hague-based court said.
“The chamber considers the status conference to constitute a ‘critical juncture’ in the proceedings,” a three-judge bench added.
NEW DATE
Earlier this month, judges dropped the start date — Tuesday next week — of Kenyatta’s crimes against humanity trial after prosecutors asked for an indefinite delay until Nairobi handed over documents they believe could clinch their case.
Judges scheduled a status conference instead for the following day and summoned Kenyatta to be present.
The Kenyan leader’s lawyers then asked that he be excused, citing a summit in Kampala on the same day that Kenyatta had to attend “as president of Kenya and the chairman of the Heads of State of the East African Community.” They added that his trip to Kampala was planned prior to the scheduling of the status conference.
“The chamber does not find merit in the defense’s submission regarding the accused’s engagements being planned prior to the convening of the status conference,” the judges said.
FIVE COUNTS
Kenyatta, 52, faces five counts at the court over his alleged role in masterminding post-election violence in the east African country in 2007 and 2008.
It will be Kenyatta’s first appearance in court, as he has repeatedly argued he needed to remain in Kenya to fight militants from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group and manage state affairs.
Events shattered Kenya’s image as a beacon of stability for the region in late 2007 when opposition leader Raila Odinga accused then-Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki of rigging his way to re-election.
What began as political riots quickly turned into ethnic killings of Kenyatta’s Kikuyu tribe, who in return launched reprisal attacks, plunging Kenya into its worst wave of social unrest since independence from Britain in 1963.
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