Nairobi, Kenya - The International Criminal Court (ICC) has delayed the pending trial of Uhuru Kenyatta, a favourite in the race for the Kenyan presidency, until 9 July.
The ICC judges agreed to postpone the commencement of the trial to give Kenyatta's defence team more time to work out its case.
'The Chamber considers that, in addition to Defence submissions related to delayed disclosure of information, the Defence teams’ applications requesting referral back to the Pre-Trial Chamber raise very serious issues that must be resolved before the trial can proceed and which may not be resolved before 11 April 2013, the date initially set for the opening of the trial,' the ICC judges said on Thursday.
The defence teams of both Kenyatta and Francis Muthaura, the former Cabinet Secretary, moved to Court, seeking for a delay in the opening of the trial.
The defence teams for Muthaura said the withdrawal of a key witness, whose testimony was critical in having the pre-trial chamber to confirm the charges, had drastically reduced the case.
The ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda did not object to the defence teams' quest to have the trial date changed from 11 April.
Pana 08/03/2013