The International Criminal Court (ICC) has terminated the cases against Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.
This follows thedecision on the motion of no case-to-answer in which their defence teams argued that the prosecutor’s evidence did not warrant the accused to be put on their defence. In a majority ruling, the judges found that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to sustain the trial.
The ruling will embolden Mr Ruto and cement his political marriage with President Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of the 2017 general elections. As free citizens without the ICC case, however, a key bargaining chip has been removed from the political equation and the Jubilee leaders will have to seek re-election based on their development record and other dynamics.
In concurring opinions, ICC Judges Robert Fremr and Chile Eboe-Osuji say the prosecutor’s evidence furthermore failed to prove existence of a network alleged to have committed crimes in the Rift Valley.
Judge Olga Herrera-Carbuccia dissented. The prosecution’s evidence failed to prove that there existed a network established to plan, coordinate and execute attacks in the Rift Valley.
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Ruto and Sang were alleged to be members of the network such that without its existence, then they would not have committed the alleged crimes of murder, forcible transfer of populations and persecution. Focus now shifts to victims of the post-election violence some of whom are still languishing in camps. (Additional reporting from Capital FM)
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