ICC witness seeks 21-day adjournment before testifying
The International Criminal Court's building in The Hague. PHOTO | VINCENT JANNINK | AFP
What you need to know:
The case against deputy president William Ruto and former broadcast journalist Joshua arap Sang continues after a six-week judicial recess with nine prosecution witnesses expected to testify.
A prosecution witness in the case against deputy president William Ruto and former broadcast journalist Joshua arap Sang has sought a three-week adjournment before he is compelled to give his testimony.
His lawyer, Geoffrey Mutai, told the International Criminal Court via video link from Nairobi that his client needed the time to get his telephone and money transfer records, adding that he had been diagnosed with depression and was not of fit to testify.
The witness also told the status conference that the prosecution had been holding his travel documents and had only returned them today.
Prosecution lawyer Anton Styneberg objected the adjournment saying that the doctor who had examined and diagnosed the witness as being depressed was a general practitioner and not a psychiatrist.
The prosecution’s case had been hard hit when several witnesses recanted their testimonies but the court compelled them to testify after Trial Chamber judges Chile Eboe Osuji, Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr ruled that the witnesses have to appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC) either through video link or by giving evidence at an agreed location in the country.
The case in which the duo faces charges of crimes against humanity continues after a six-week judicial recess with nine prosecution witnesses expected to testify.
