ICC postpones Kenyatta trial until next year

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has postponed the trial of Uhuru Kenyatta, the president of Kenya, until February, defusing a likely diplomatic crisis over attempts to try a sitting head of state.

Mr Kenyatta’s trial, on charges of helping to organise post-election reprisals in 2008, had been scheduled to start on November 12. William Ruto, his deputy, is already standing trial before the court over his alleged role in the violence, when 1,100 people were killed and 600,000 left homeless.

But, in a unanimous decision on Thursday, the court’s three judges agreed to postpone the trial, accepting arguments by the defence that it needed more time to prepare for two new prosecution witnesses.

The decision postponed a likely diplomatic crisis, as African states have lobbied the court to drop the case and western countries have worried about its political consequences. Mr Kenyatta has already won the court’s consent that he not be required to attend the entire trial, as is normally the case for defendants.

But the postponement angered advocates of the victims of the 2008 violence. Fergal Gaynor, legal representative for the victims, said the victims “see the accused and his government deploying huge resources at the highest international levels to bring the present trial – which is their only hope of justice – to an end”.

In the decision, presiding judge Kuniko Ozaki blamed the prosecution and defence teams for the delays, urging the parties “to accelerate their preparation in order to ensure that no further postponements are required”.

A senior western diplomat said Kenya has devoted its “total diplomatic and national attention” to fighting the ICC in recent weeks as the trial start-date drew near.

In his increasing efforts to avert trial, Mr Kenyatta has sought to pit African states against the west, characterising the ICC as “a toy of declining imperial powers”.

Mr Kenyatta’s team successfully lobbied fellow African states that it would be an insult to his dignity as head of state to take the stand, even though he was indicted before he ran for office. His team has asked the ICC to allow him to attend the trial via video conferencing, and at the same time is lobbying the UN Security Council for a 12-month deferral on the grounds of a threat to international peace and stability after the deadly terrorist attack on Westgate shopping mall last month.

The diplomat said the decision to delay the start date would also likely ease pressure on the UN Security Council, which was meeting detractors from the African Union and Kenya, on Thursday. “Let’s wait and see but I anticipate the Security Council will kick it into the grass a bit now,” said the diplomat.

The ICC has faced criticism for slowness and increasing questions as to whether it is capable of trying senior leaders for their roles in crimes against humanity. Established more than a decade ago, it has so far won only one conviction, against the Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga.