By FELIX OLICK
President Uhuru Kenyatta now wants the International Criminal Court ( ICC) to postpone his trial due in two months, until January next year.
If granted, it would be the second time the three-judge bench would be postponing the trial against the President.
Uhuru’s trial at The Hague-based court is scheduled to commence on July 11.
The trial was initially set for April 11, but was vacated shortly after the March 4 elections following a request by his defence lawyers.
In his new submission to the Trial Chamber judges, President Uhuru raised a number of issues relating to ‘Prosecution failure’ on disclosure, which he maintained makes the July 9 untenable.
He argued for example, he requires additional time to adequately investigate some prosecution witnesses whom he said have a criminal background and significant issues on integrity.
“The scale of Prosecution disclosure served after the confirmation of the charges necessitates further substantial defence investigations due to the high incidence of witnesses relied upon by the Prosecution with a criminal background and significant issues relating to their credibility,” his defence counsels Stephen Kay and Gillian Higgins said.
They also told the bench led by Japanese Judge Kuniko Ozaki they would require time to investigate the credibility and substantive allegations made by five witnesses whose identities have not been disclosed. The defence also complained the transcripts of interviews of witnesses remain substantially redacted.
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