The Hague, August 31, 2011 (FH) – Three
\nKenyans, including two senior politicians, have arrived in The Hague ahead of
\ntheir confirmation of charges hearings due to start Thursday before the
\nInternational Criminal Court (ICC). Former Higher Education Minister William
\nRuto, former Minister for Industrialization Henry Kosgey and radio executive
\nJoshua arap Sang are facing charges of crimes against humanity linked to
\npost-electoral violence in 2007 and 2008 which left more than 1,000 people dead.
\nIf the ICC confirms the charges they could face incarceration. The hearings are
\nscheduled to run until September 12.
\n<\/p>\n
\nAs well as being former ministers, Ruto
\nand Kosgey
\nare both members of parliament and senior figures in the main opposition
\nparty,
\nthe Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Ruto is a potential candidate for
\nthe 2012
\npresidential election. Sang is also a prominent supporter of the ODM.\n<\/p>\n
\nAll three are accused of crimes
\nagainst humanity
\nfor murders, persecution and forcible displacement of population
\ncommitted
\nbetween December 30, 2007 and the end of January 2008. According to an
\nindependent investigation, 1,200 persons were killed, 3,500 wounded and
\n350,000
\ndisplaced because of violence linked to December 2007 presidential
\nelections. <\/p>\n
Following the elections,
\nethnic clashes
\nbroke out between supporters of the Party of National Unity (PNU) of
\nPresident
\nMwai Kibaki, who was proclaimed the winner, and those of ODM candidate
\nRaila
\nOdinga, who is now the Prime Minister. The ODM claimed the election had
\nbeen
\nrigged. The violence only ended after a power sharing agreement brokered
\nby
\nformer UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was signed on February 28, 2008. <\/p>\n
The prosecution states that William
\nRuto, Henry
\nKosgey and Joshua Sang had a common plan: “There was a plan to punish
\nPNU
\nsupporters in the event that the 2007 presidential elections were
\nrigged. The
\nplan aimed at expelling them from the Rift Valley, with the ultimate
\ngoal of
\ncreating a uniform Orange Democratic Movement voting block”. <\/p>\n
Prosecution adds that Ruto was the
\nhead of the
\nnetwork, Kosgey his treasurer and Joshua Sang the public relations
\nofficer. Sang
\nis an executive at the Kalenjin language radio station Kass FM in the
\nRift
\nValley. <\/p>\n
ICC Prosecutor Luis
\nMoreno Ocampo
\ntook the initiative to open an investigation into crimes committed in
\nKenya
\nfollowing 2007 elections, with the support of the United States,
\nEuropean Union,
\nUnited Nations and regional powers like Uganda and Tanzania. <\/p>\n
Similar hearings are due to start on
\nSeptember
\n21 in the case of Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, secretary to the
\ncabinet
\nFrancis Kirimi Muthaura and former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali.<\/p>\n
\nSM\/GF\/JC\n<\/p>\n
\n© Hirondelle News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Hague, August 31, 2011 (FH) – Three Kenyans, including two senior politicians, have arrived in The Hague ahead of their confirmation of charges hearings due to start Thursday before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Former Higher Education Minister William Ruto, former Minister for Industrialization Henry Kosgey and radio executive Joshua arap Sang are facing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-23687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n