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Uhuru arrives for landmark ICC session

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives at The Hague for status conference of his case/AFP

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives at The Hague for status conference of his case/AFP

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 8 – President Uhuru Kenyatta made his way to the International Criminal Court (ICC) an hour before his scheduled status conference.

There were chaotic scenes as Kenyatta, wearing a charcoal suit and white shirt, fought his way into the heavily-guarded ICC without addressing his supporters or the press.

A handful of demonstrators sang and danced outside the ICC ahead of his arrival, many of them dressed in Kenyan colours and carrying banners in support of Kenyatta.

One large banner read: “Hands off our prez, he is innocent.”

“We had to come today because of course he is innocent, he never participated in any killings,” said Paul Kobia from Nairobi.

This will be the first time he will be attending his case since he was elected President in March 2013.

President Kenyatta appeared before the court as a deputy Prime Minister in September 2011.

President Kenyatta’s presence has generated debate with questions raised over the prosecution’s continued indefinite postponement of his trial on three different occasions now.

The focus has also been on the prosecution’s repeated statements that it does not have adequate evidence to hold President Kenyatta criminally responsible for the atrocities committed in Nakuru and Naivasha during the 2008 Post Election Violence in Kenya.

President Kenyatta announced he would attend the status conference on Monday.

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He said he would be present in the court as an individual but not as the President of the Republic of Kenya after he appointed William Ruto to act as President.

On Tuesday, the prosecution and the Government of Kenya locked horns with both parties making counter accusations over failed cooperation.

READ Githu, ICC Prosecution lock horns in Uhuru case

Attorney General Githu Muigai told the ICC judges that the prosecution was asking for unspecific and information that was impossible to provide, whereas the prosecution accused the Government of Kenya of failing to provide the required information despite having the capacity to do so.

The prosecution told the judges that of the 75 page documents it had received from Kenya, none of the information in them was adding value to its case against President Kenyatta.

He told the court that the prosecution had lost hope of getting anymore information from the government that would help it to sustain its charges against President Kenyatta.

Based on the submissions made by the GOK, the prosecution and President Kenyatta’s lawyer Steven Kay, the judges of the Trial Chamber V (b) will make a decision on the fate of the case against President Kenyatta.

During the status conferences held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the ICC judges will review the state of the case against President Kenyatta who remains the only accused person in Kenya case 2.

The judges decided to hold the two status conferences to gather views as they prepare to make a decision on if to grant the prosecution’s request to postpone the trial or drop all charges against President Kenyatta.

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Former Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and ex Police chief Hussein Ali had their charges dropped leaving Kenyatta as the sole accused person in implementing a ‘joint common plan’ to carry attacks in 2008.

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