DEPUTY President William Ruto has asked the ICC presidency to reconvene the Plenary of Judges that rejected his request to be tried in East Africa.
In an application filed yesterday, Ruto told the ICC president that the plenary should reconsider since some judges had criticised the conduct of Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
Ruto, through his lawyer Karim Khan said that the Presidency should cancel the decision and reconvene the Plenary of Judges after having received Ruto's response to Bensouda’s additional submissions. If necessary, Khan said the plenary should also consider submissions by Kenya and Tanzania to Bensouda.
Khan argued that the plenary's decision in July was unfair because the Prosecutor was given "extra privileges" by being allowed a late filing.
"The principle that the Prosecution and the defence are procedurally equal before the Court goes to the heart of the fair trial rights of an accused – as well as the standing and confidence that all parties will have in the ICC itself. No attempt to whittle down this principle of procedural equality between the parties can be entertained," Khan told the court.
Ruto also said that he was concerned that "the self-serving, highly contested opinions" of his political opponents could be considered by the Court without affording him the right to respond.
Ruto's trial is due to start next Tuesday along with former radio presenter Joshua Sang on charges of crimes against humanity arising out of the 2008 post-election violence.
Last week, the ICC judges released their decision explaining why they rejected Ruto's request for portions of his trial be held in Nairobi or Arusha.
Nine judges voted in favour and five voted against. Ten judges were needed to sustain the request.
However some judges criticised Bensouda for suddenly turning against having parts of the trial in East Africa. They questioned the coincidence that the ICC had received with a letter from a Kenyan activist Gladwell Otieno about that time.
In a stinging dissent opinion, the presiding judge in Ruto’s case, Chile Eboe-Osuji of Nigeria, accused Bensouda of “ambush.”
The plenary judges voted on July 11. He added that the late filing left Ruto’s defence without an opportunity to react yet they were the movers of the motion.
The judge also accused Bensouda of not taking “extreme care” to avoid the impression that the ICC is being used to block the political ambitions of Ruto.
Yesterday, Ruto said that the issues raised by the judges were of great concern and thus the decision should be reviewed.