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ICC Resumes Kenyan Deputy President's Trial


Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto addresses the nation during a special Inter-Religious Prayer Service for the people killed and injured in the recent Westgate shopping mall attack in the capital Nairobi October 1, 2013.
Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto addresses the nation during a special Inter-Religious Prayer Service for the people killed and injured in the recent Westgate shopping mall attack in the capital Nairobi October 1, 2013.
The trial of Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto has resumed at the International Criminal Court after he went home to deal with the terrorist attack on a Nairobi mall.

Ruto was back in court Wednesday at The Hague, where he is facing charges of crimes against humanity. Prosecutors say he helped orchestrate ethnic violence after Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election.

Also Wednesday, the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for a Kenyan man accused of trying to bribe prosecution witnesses in the Ruto case.

Prosecutors say Walter Barasa, a former journalist, offered to pay people to not testify in the ICC proceedings, and that his arrest is necessary to ensure he does not obstruct the cases.

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda says the court expects Kenyan authorities to arrest Barasa and transfer him to court custody.

Barasa told media outlets Wednesday that the accusations against him are false.

Reuters news agency quotes Kenya's attorney general as saying the ICC's warrant is subject to "judicial consideration" before Kenya will enforce it.

Deputy President Ruto and his co-defendant, Joshua Arap Sang, have pleaded not guilty to the ICC's charges.

The ICC is also set to try Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on charges related to the 2007 post-election violence. That trial is scheduled to begin in November.
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