Deputy Premier must be tried – Hague court

Kenya’s deputy prime minister and another presidential hopeful are among four suspects who should be tried over deadly post-poll unrest four years ago, the International Criminal Court ruled yeterday.

Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki appealed for calm in the east African country amid fears the Hague-based court’s anxiously awaited confirmation of charges hearing could revive ethnic and political tensions.

The ICC said charges of crimes against humanity had been confirmed against William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of the country’s founding president, dropping a bombshell in Kenya’s presidential campaign.

Finance Minister Kenyatta pledged to cooperate with the ICC but stressed his innocence in the violence that erupted following a disputed 2007 presidential vote, while Ruto dismissed charges against him as “strange.”

More than 1,100 people died in the violence, shattering Kenya’s image as a beacon of regional stability. “The chamber found that there are substantial grounds to believe Mr Ruto is responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator of the crimes,” ICC presiding judge Ekaterina Trendafilova said before a public hearing.

“In regards to Mister... Kenyatta, the chamber was satisfied that the evidence established that there are substantial grounds to believe that (he is) criminally responsible of the alleged crimes, as an indirect co-perpetrator.”

Two other Kenyans, radio host Joshua Arap Sang, 36, and Francis Muthaura, 65, the head of Kenya’s civil service, will also face trial.