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Kenya

Six suspects in Kenya post-election violence case

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court concluded a five-day trip to Kenya on Wednesday by vowing to bring six suspects linked to post-election violence to justice.Luis Moreno-Ocampo told a press conference in Nairobi that his meetings with key witnesses enabled him to narrow the list of prime suspects down from 20 people.

Reuters
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The incidents being investigated by the ICC occurred after then opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki of rigging his re-election in December 2007. More than 1,200 people were killed in the violence that followed and thousands more were displaced.

Moreno-Ocampo says it is important to investigate the crimes to make sure that Kenyan elections scheduled in 2012 are peaceful.

Paul Muite, a former president of the Kenyan Bar Association, told RFI that the ICC prosecutor’s visit had been well received.

“He held public meetings with victims who were able to ask him questions. He may have met witnesses in camera to finalise his preparation – to tie up the evidence.”

Muite believes that senior figures on both sides of the political divide could be implicated. But he says the most important aspect of the ICC’s involvement is that it will bring an end to a culture of impunity in the country.

“Really it is not [about] the number of people who might face charges… the impact will be profound in the sense that the balloon of impunity will have been punctured.”

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