Kenya vice president Ruto to go on trial September 10

Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto will go on trial for crimes against humanity in September in connection with deadly post-election violence in 2007-08, the International Criminal Court said Monday. The ICC, based in The Hague, also recommended that part or all of the high-profile trial be held in Kenya or Tanzania. "The pre-trial chamber decided to set the opening on September 10 in order to allow the defence sufficient time to carry out its preparations," the ICC said in a statement. Ruto, 46, faces three counts of crimes against humanity for his role in deadly violence that erupted in Kenya after elections in late 2007. Judges last month nullified a trial date set for May 28 and held a hearing to check on the status of preparations for the trial in which Ruto, sworn in as the east African country's deputy leader in April, pledged his full cooperation. Ruto's lawyers had asked the court to postpone the trial until at least November to allow them to prepare properly, while prosecutors wanted to add six new witnesses to their list. After considering the submissions, a three-judge bench set down the new trial date and gave prosecutors the thumbs-up to add two witnesses to their list. Ruto will go on trial with his co-accused, radio boss Joshua arap Sang. Some 1,100 people died in bloodshed after the election over allegations of vote-rigging, shattering Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability. What began as political riots quickly turned into ethnic killings and reprisal attacks, plunging Kenya into its worst wave of unrest since independence in 1963. The ICC in January 2012 confirmed crimes against humanity charges against four senior Kenyans including Ruto, Sang and Kenya's newly elected President Uhuru Kenyatta. Charges against the fourth accused, civil servant Francis Muthaura, were dramatically dropped in March after a key witness in his case was discredited and other witnesses either refused to testify or had died. The cases against the remaining three are set to go ahead, with both Kenyatta and Ruto denying the charges. Ruto and Sang will be tried separately from Kenyatta, who faces five counts of crimes against humanity including murder and deportation. Though they were bitter enemies in opposing camps during the previous polls in late 2007, Ruto became Kenyatta's running mate during the March elections. Judges in early March postponed Kenyatta's own trial until July 9, when he will become the first-ever serving head of state to face the ICC's judges. The judges on Monday said they would also recommend to the ICC's presidency that it "may be desirable to hold the commencement of the trial, or portions thereof" in Kenya or Tanzania. While a decision remained pending, the judges said that although the ICC was headquartered in The Hague, "where the court considers that it would be in the interest of justice... (it) may decide to sit in a state other than The Netherlands."