En af dem er rigmanden Uhuru Kenyatta
Two presidential candidates in Kenya are to stand trial over crimes against humanity following post-poll violence in 2007, the International Criminal Court has ruled, BBC online reports Monday.
Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former minister William Ruto will both face charges.They are among four senior Kenyans – all of whom deny the accusations – who will stand trial.
Mr Kenyatta will stand trial with cabinet secretary Francis Mutaura. The pair are accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution (forfølgelse).
Former Education Minister William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang will stand trial in a separate case, as they were on opposite sides during the 2007 election.
More than 1.200 people were killed in weeks of unrest and some 600.000 people were forced to flee their homes.
The violence began as clashes between supporters of the two rival presidential candidates – Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki – but it snowballed into a bloody round of score-settling and communal violence, BBC notes.
Uhuru Kenyatta is the son of Kenya’s founding president, and the 50-year-old is also the country’s richest citizen with a personal fortune of half a billion US dollar. Ruto is a former ally of Odinga, but the two had a falling out— partly over Ruto’s insistence on making his own presidential bid this year.
Both Kenyatta and Ruto come from powerful ethnic groups – Kikuyu and Kalenjin
The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to prosecute the most serious offenses committed around the world when local courts cannot or will not step in. It has so far launched investigations in seven countries, all of them in Africa.
