Following the appearances of the post-election violence suspects at the ICC, who include Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr. Francis Muthaura, Maj. Gen Hussein Ali, Mr.Joshua Sang, Mr.William Ruto and Mr. Henry Kosgey, the prosecutor Moreno Ocampo plans to line up 20 witnesses to testify against them.
Ocampo is expected to present 7800 pages of statements from the 20 witnesses; however, he explained that out of the total of 11000 documents that will be relied on by the prosecution, 600 of them will be edited to conceal the identity of the witnesses. This revelation was made after it emerged that Ocampo has in his possession files that contain information that could be used by the defense to acquit Mr. Ruto, Mr. Kosgey and Mr. Sang from some of the charges against them.
The lawyers representing the 6 suspects are said to be planning to refute the prosecution’s case by presenting their own witnesses and exhibits, following their knowledge of the number of witnesses and the evidence against their clients. Mr. Ocampo however wants to hold on to the evidence since he believes that revealing it may compromise the security of his witnesses.
In his latest application filed with the chamber, the ICC prosecutor stated that the risks for the witnesses have increased since the time the suspects went to present themselves at The Hague. The heroic welcome they received when they arrived back to Kenya may render them to be viewed as traitors by members of their community, when they go to witness against the suspects.
The prosecutor is hoping that Justice Trendafilova will allow him to hold onto his evidence until the judges determine an application by Kenya Government in which it challenges the admissibility of the two cases. Mr. Ocampo stated; should the judges decline to shield him from disclosure of the evidence he has, his team will be forced to redact the evidence they hand over to the defense teams.
He explained that heavy redactions will however prejudice the interests of the prosecution, and may result in a disclosure of information that would be too imprecise to significantly assist the defense. These redactions could disincline the chambers to place much weight on the evidence. If it causes the chamber to dismiss the probative value of the evidence, it will affect the prosecution’s role.
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