14.12.13 – WEEKLY SUMMARY – ICC PROSECUTOR QUESTIONS KENYAN PRESIDENT’S FORTUNE, ASF CALLS FOR LIBERATION OF BEMBA LAWYERS

Arusha, December 14, 2013 (FH) – The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court accuses the Kenyan government of concealing information on the fortune of President Uhuru Kenyatta. Meanwhile, Avocats sans Frontières (ASF) calls for the immediate release of Jean-Pierre Bemba’s lawyers.

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ICC/KENYATTAFatou Bensouda focuses on Kenyan president’s fortune: The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday ordered the Kenyan government to respond to allegations by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda who accuses Nairobi of concealing from her information about the fortune of President Uhuru Kenyatta. The Kenyan government has until January 8 to submit its observations. Kenyatta, whose trial is due to start on February 5, 2014, is accused of crimes against humanity committed during violence that followed elections in December 2007. The Prosecutor accuses Kenyatta of fuelling the violence notably through his financial resources and argues that information about the president’s fortune are relevant to the judicial process.ICC/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICICC Prosecutor joins UN calls:  ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Monday called on all parties to the conflict in the Central African Republic to stop attacks on the civilian population and other crimes, which may be subject to prosecution by the ICC. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council last week adopted a resolution calling for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to set up rapidly an international commission of inquiry on crimes committed in the CAR.ICC/BEMBAASF calls for immediate release of Bemba lawyers: Lawyers without Borders (Avocats sans Frontières, ASF) called Wednesday for the immediate release of Congolese lawyer Aimé Kilolo and his assistant Jean-Jacques Mangenda, currently jailed by the Hague-based International Criminal Court for suspected witness tampering. Kilolo is defence counsel for Congolese Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba, whom the ICC is trying for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003. Mangenda is his assistant on the case. ASF says a summons to appear would have sufficed.ER/ JC