{{Concerns that the cover of the first witness to take the stand at the ICC trial of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto had been blown Wednesday forced the court to go into an emergency private session to discuss the security of witnesses.}}
The prosecution pressed judges to allow more stringent witness protection measures citing the difficulty with the Kenyan cases before the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
The unscheduled closed-door session that took up the morning hours pushed planned submissions on Kenya’s relationship with the ICC to the afternoon, meaning Witness 536 — who first took the stand on Tuesday — did not continue with her testimony yesterday.
The court has taken measures to conceal the identity of the witness by, among other measures, concealing her face and distorting her voice, but reports indicated that both the prosecution and the witness were concerned about attempts to reveal her identity.
When the court resumed in the afternoon, Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji warned those participating in proceedings and the public that the court would prosecute anyone who revealed the identity of witnesses.
“Members of the press, bloggers, social media members or participants and their web hosts are particularly called upon to desist from anything that would reveal or attempt to reveal the identity of protected witnesses. Such conduct will be investigated and the culprits will be prosecuted,” warned Judge Eboe-Osuji.
Kenya’s determination to withdraw from the ICC haunted Deputy President Ruto and his co-accused, journalist Joshua Sang, as the prosecution charged that it had evidence of hostility towards the court.
Trial lawyer Anton Steynberg pressed for more protective measures, including withholding of the identities of witnesses before they are called up to testify.
{ICC Registrar Herman Von Hebel conducts a briefing with Kenyan MPs on Deputy President William Ruto’s case at The Hague, Wednesday}
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