ICC to rule on whether to drop the Ruto, Sang case in April

Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang will know if they have a case to answer or not on April 5^th, 2016 when the International Criminal Court (ICC) delivers a ruling on their No Case To Answer Motion.

In a letter, the ICC said that it will make a ruling on whether to drop or proceed with the crimes against humanity case facing the duo.

Ruto and Sang had applied to the ICC seeking the termination of the cases facing them.

On February 12^th this year, the ICC Appeals Chamber rejected the use of prior recorded testimony in the Ruto, Sang case.

The legal error made by the Trial Chamber, according to the Appeal’s Chamber, was that the application of Rule 68 on recanted evidence was retroactive as the trial had started on September 10^th, 2013 before the amendment of the rule.

This means that by using recanted evidence, it would negatively affect Ruto and Sang’s position as they would not have the right to cross examine the witnesses and that they did not expect that evidence was going to be used against them after it was recanted.

The Appeal’s Chamber also noted that the Trial Chamber erred by saying the rule on retroactivity only applies on substantive issues and not procedural issues. The chamber ruled that retroactivity applies on both substantive and procedural issues of the Rome Statute, with Rule 68 being among the rules of procedure.

The African Union had threatened to withdraw from the Rome Statute if the Appeals Court ruled otherwise.

Early January, the ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda insisted that she has sufficient evidence to nail Ruto and Sang over the 2007/08 Post Election Violence that left at least 1,300 people dead and over 600,000 others displaced.

Bensouda urged the ICC Trial Judges to dismiss the application by Ruto and Sang seeking that the court rules that they have no case to answer.

Prosecution lawyer Anthon Steynberg said they had sufficient evidence to prove the DP held several meeting at his Sugoi home to plot the 2007 skirmishes.