African Union asks the ICC to terminate Ruto’s case

The African Union has appealed to International Criminal Court (ICC) to terminate cases against Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto on grounds that prosecutor Fatou Bensouda plans to use recanted evidence by witnesses.

The union’s executive summit meeting in South Africa on June 14, Sunday, accused the ICC of applying court procedures retrospectively on the use of recanted evidence.

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AU is challenging an amendment to the ICC’s rules of procedure and evidence saying that they should not be applied on the case against Ruto, because AU signed them at a time when the case had already started.

Mrs Bensouda is seeking  to be allowed to use recanted evidence by five key witnesses, and another witnesses who failed to testify in the Ruto case.  A status conference held on June 5, 2015 at the Trial Chamber V regarding the application said the court will issue a decision before July 17, 2015.

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