Kibaki: Kenya working on local trial for Ocampo 4

[mwitaz]

President Kibaki has said
Kenya has not lost hope of
having four of its nationals
facing crimes against
humanity at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) tried at home.

He urged Kenyans to
remain calm as the
government pursues a
local mechanism to try
Deputy Prime Minister
Uhuru Kenyatta, former head of the public service
Francis Muthaura, Eldoret
North MP William Ruto and
radio presenter Joshua
arap Sang for crimes
committed during the 2007/08 post election
violence. He said the victims of the
chaos deserved justice
while the suspects had a
right to a fair hearing. "I am also aware of the
concerns that the
upcoming ICC cases have
caused among Kenyans. I
am also cognisant of the
fact that this House passed a motion that Kenya pulls
out of the ICC. "Victims of post-election
violence deserve justice.
The Kenyans facing trials
also deserve a fair and legal
hearing," said President
Kibaki during a State of the Nation address in
Parliament, Tuesday. "In the meantime, I call on
Kenyans to remain calm
even as we pursue the
option of having a local
mechanism to deal with
any international crimes. The matter of the ICC must
also not be politicised," said
the President. The four Kenyans are due
to face trial for the chaos
that left 1,133 people dead
and 650,000 uprooted
from their homes at The
Hague-based court in the coming months. The ICC took over the
cases after the government
failed to establish a local
tribunal to prosecute the
suspects.