The Hague Prosecutor is seeking a minimum of 1,400 hours for her witnesses to testify and be grilled by the defence side on the Kenyan cases, which begin on April 10, and 11.
This means, at the rate of four-hour sittings by The Hague court, and only on weekdays, the witness stage in the cases involving Jubilee leaders Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto could take a year or 350 days.
But this excludes weekends, court vacations such as winter, international and local holidays in The Netherlands, as well as other interruptions of hearing in court such as those forced by submissions, applications, verifications and other backroom business.
These hours exclude the time the defence itself will seek for its own witnesses to counter what the prosecution will charge, as well time allocated to any other witnesses called by both the Chamber and the representatives of the victims in the two Kenyan cases.
There could be further delay because the two sets of cases start on alternate days, if the Judges hear them on interchanging weeks because they are being heard by the same bench; Trial Chamber V.
What complicates the cases touching on Uhuru, who is the Jubilee Presidential candidate and Ruto, who is his running mate, is the fact that whether in the run-off stage, or in victory at whatever stage of the election, they would be required to be physically present in the Maanweg Street address at The Hague.
Furthermore, except for Kass FM’s Head of Operations Joshua Arap Sang, who sought ICC’s legal aid, this would mean that former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, Ruto and Uhuru would have to meet their expenses for the duration of the case, even if it takes three years as some of those already heard by the court have.
This would also include legal and upkeep fees for their lawyers, with each one expected to have a minimum of seven and also a retinue of researchers and clerical staff.
Read More…….http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000074765&story_title=Kenya-ICC-releases-evidence-on-Uhuru,Ruto-cases
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