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Kenya's William Ruto ICC trial opens in The Hague | Kenya's William Ruto ICC trial opens in The Hague |
(35 minutes later) | |
The trial of Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto has opened at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. | |
Mr Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta are accused of crimes against humanity by orchestrating violence after elections in 2007 - which they deny. | |
Mr Ruto becomes the first serving official to appear at the ICC. | |
The two trials are seen as a crucial test of the ICC's ability to prosecute political leaders. | |
This is a politically controversial trial with a complex legal history, says the BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague. | This is a politically controversial trial with a complex legal history, says the BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague. |
Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were on opposite sides during the 2007 election and are accused of orchestrating attacks on members of each other's ethnic groups. | |
They formed an alliance for elections in March, saying they were an example of reconciliation. | |
Analysts say the ICC prosecutions bolstered their campaign as they portrayed it as foreign interference in Kenya's domestic affairs. | Analysts say the ICC prosecutions bolstered their campaign as they portrayed it as foreign interference in Kenya's domestic affairs. |
Mr Ruto and radio executive Joshua arap Sang are accused of murder, deportation and persecution, which they both deny. | |
Some 1,200 people were killed and 600,000 forced from their homes in weeks of violence after the disputed December 2007 election. | |
The UN-brokered peace deal that brought an end to the brutal killings included an agreement that those responsible for the violence must be held to account. | |
A commission was set up to investigate the violence and it recommended that if efforts to establish special tribunals in Kenya failed, the matter should be sent to The Hague. | |
Kenya repeatedly failed to set up such tribunals and so the ICC indicted those it said bore the greatest responsibility for the violence. | |
The ICC on Monday said the two trials would not clash, after Mr Kenyatta warned that the constitution prevented the two men from being abroad at the same time. | |
The president is due to go on trial in November. | |
The judges at The Hague have indicated the two cases could be heard alternately - in blocks of four weeks. | |
On Thursday, Kenya's parliament passed a motion calling for the country to withdraw from the ICC. | |
The court said the cases would continue, even if Kenya withdrew. | The court said the cases would continue, even if Kenya withdrew. |
The ICC was set up in 2002 to deal with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. | The ICC was set up in 2002 to deal with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. |