Jubilee Coalition leaders have snubbed the International Criminal Court's (ICC) caution urging them to refrain from commenting on the criminal case against Deputy President William Ruto and Radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang.
The leaders said at a praying meeting in Suswa, Narok County, that no court would intimidate them and the prayer rallies would continue as planned.
They released a statement called the Suswa Declaration directed to the ICC establishing their stand.
“For avoidance of doubt, we the people of Kenya wish to state that we are a sovereign, democratic and independent nation founded on the principles of the rule of law, respect for human rights and constitutionalism, and that we now do and will resist at all costs, by all means and at all times, any forms of dictatorship from any quarter, including the ICC. Kenya is and shall continue to be a free, open and democratic society and nothing less. We shall continue to speak and continue in prayer,” the Suswa Declaration read by Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau stated.
Last week, Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji criticised Kenyan leaders for making abusive utterances on the ICC in public meetings and in the media.
"Even abusive commentaries have been directed at the court and judges when judicial decisions have been issued that have not been to the liking of those making those commentaries, of course, in an apparent hope of bullying the judges into the groove of its sentiments," Osuji stated.
Osuji added that their remarks would not determine the outcome of the case in any way and that they ought to refrain from such comments.
"But we are not impressed, not in the least. What controls and will continue to control the outcome of the decisions of the Chamber on any matter will continue to be the evidence and the law in their best appreciation by the judges, and the judges alone," he said.
