Deputy President William Ruto yesterday suffered a setback in a case he is facing at the ICC, after judges allowed the prosecution to use earlier testimonies recorded by hostile witnesses.
The decision means Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is free to use statements by witnesses who either recanted or withdrew from testifying.
The original statements made by the witnesses, will now be used as evidence against Mr Ruto by the prosecution.
The ruling by the court came as a reprieve to the prosecutor who had applied to use the statements of witnesses declared hostile after being compelled by the court to testify or withdraw.
In her request, Ms Bensouda argued that, there was an organised and effective scheme to persuade prosecution witnesses to withdraw or recant their evidence, through a combination of intimidation and bribery”.
She had submitted that the behavior of the witnesses had “deprived (prosecution) of a significant portion of the incriminating evidence that it intended to be used in support of its charges”.
The defense teams of Mr Ruto and Mr Joshua arap Sang had both opposed the application, arguing that the admission of the statements would be prejudicial to their clients.
The decision came in the backdrop of another ruling by the ICC that saw President Uhuru Kenyatta’s non-compliance issue referred back to the trial chamber.
The Appeals chamber judges unanimously agreed to take the matter back to the Trial Chamber, to assess whether Kenya cooperated properly with prosecutors in the case against Kenyatta.
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