THE HAGUE, Netherlands
The International Criminal Court prosecutor’s office announced Monday it is halting its long-running investigation into deadly violence that broke out in Kenya after the African nation’s 2007 presidential election.
The decision was announced at
a time when the prosecutor’s office is appealing for extra resources as it
investigates ongoing conflicts including the war in Ukraine and the
Israel-Hamas war.
The Kenya investigation that
opened in 2010 led to charges against six suspects, including the country’s
current and former presidents, but ultimately did not yield any successful
prosecutions, amid claims of witness intimidation and political interference.
All charges against the suspects were either withdrawn, terminated or tossed
out by pre-trial judges.
Among the suspects charged but
never convicted were then-President Uhuru Kenyatta and then-Deputy President
William Ruto.
Post-election violence in 2007 and 2008 left more than 1,000 people dead and forced 600,000 from their homes in Kenya.
“After assessing all the
information available to me at this time, I have decided to conclude the
investigation phase,” ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said in a
statement.
The court’s prosecutor, Karim
Khan, was previously Ruto’s defense lawyer at the ICC and recused himself from
all Kenya investigations in 2021. Ruto’s trial was halted after prosecutors
finished presenting their case and Khan successfully argued that the evidence
was not strong enough.
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