Five judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC)will on Friday evening decide an appeal by William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang challenging the decision by the tiral chamber to allow the use of testimony by five prosecution witnesses who turned hostile.
Ruto and Sang, who are charged with crimes against humanity committed during the post-election violence period in Kenya, challenged the decision of Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji (presiding), Olga Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr last year after they allowed the ICC Prosecutor to use prior recorded testimony from five witnesses who had been declared hostile after they recanted their statements.
The appeal decision is highly anticipated since it was supported by an amicus curiae brief from the African Union, which has been at odds with the court over the trial of Mr Ruto, who is Deputy President in Kenya.
The Common Legal Representative for the Victims, Mr Wilfred Nderitu, also filed his observations.
Judge Piotr HofmaÅ„ski (Poland), who is presiding in this appeal, Judge Silvia Alejandra Fernández De Gurmendi (Argentina), Judge Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium), Judge Howard Morrison (United Kingdom), and Judge Péter Kovács (Hungary) will deliver their decision at 18.30 (16.30, The Hague).
The trial opened on September 10, 2013, and was last in court early this year when hearing verbal submissions in the no-case-to-answer motion filed by Ruto and Sang.
Ruto and Sang are accused of crimes against humanity (murder, deportation or forcible transfer of population and persecution) allegedly committed in the context of the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya.
