Kenya: ICC on Kenyatta / Ruto trial

Ruto and Sang case: The trial opening is postponed to 28 May 2013

Situation: Kenya
Case: The Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang

Today, 8 March 2013, Trial Chamber V of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to grant the Defence teams’ requests, to which the Prosecutor did not oppose, and to postpone the opening of the trial in the case The Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang. The Chamber vacated the trial commencement date of 10 April and set the new date for 28 May 2013.

The Chamber considers that it is important to ensure that the accused have adequate time for the preparation of the defence, hence it grants the Defence additional time to continue its investigations and prepare for trial. However, the Chamber is of the view that the postponement need not be as long as requested by the Defence. The Chamber considers it sufficient to vacate the trial date until 28 May 2013, which should give the Defence adequate additional time to prepare for trial.

Yesterday, the same Chamber postponed the opening of the trial in the case The Prosecutor v. Francis Kirimi Muthaura and Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and set the new date provisionally for 9 July 2013.

Decision concerning the start date of trial