Kenyan minister takes the witness stand at Hague court
Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:19 GMT
By Aaron Gray-Block
THE HAGUE, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta denied ordering attacks on opponents after the 2007 presidential election, as he gave evidence on Thursday at The Hague in a bid to avoid being sent to trial for crimes against humanity.
Kenyatta, a son of Kenya's first president and a leading contender to be head of state himself next year, rejected charges that he helped organise tribal violence in which over 1,200 people died. He said he had worked for national unity.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will determine whether he should stand trial on five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape. Five other Kenyan politicians are also charged in the same case.
In his sworn testimony, Kenyatta denied allegations by prosecution witnesses that, on the night of Dec. 30 when the election results were announced, he held a meeting with figures from a local militia known as the Mungiki to plan violence.
"That event did not take place," Kenyatta said. Exhausted by his work during the election, he added: "I went home to sleep."
With Kenyatta, who is also deputy prime minister, Cabinet Secretary Francis Kirimi Muthaura and former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali appeared at the ICC pre-trial hearings.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has accused Kenyatta, a member of the Kikuyu tribe, of mobilising the Mungiki against the Kalenjin tribe in the Rift Valley.
The defence has argued that two prosecution witnesses lied, possibly for profit. The court is expected to decide later this year on whether to send the defendants for trial. (Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
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