The prosecution has applied to withdraw a very crucial witness in the ICC case where deputy president William Ruto has been accused for organizing and financing the 2007/2008 post election violence. The ICC prosecution has requested that the case against William Ruto and his co-accused former journalist Joshua Arap Sang be postponed to give them time to put their disorganized house in order.
The Application was made yesterday by prosecution Counsel Anton Steynberg with a request to withdraw witness number 25 who was supposed to testify as from today.
The ICC case is becoming funny and drama keeps on unfolding. It was a funny moment when a prosecution lawyer admitted that a witness was " unable to recall " or narrate events in a coherent manner especially in the critical parts of the evidence. This shows that the witness has forgotten what he/she was coached about. Claims of witnesses being coached have always been raised raising many questions on the legitimacy and intention of the ICC trial. Ruto's defence has gone ham on the ICC by demanding that they first be given crucial evidence among them video of the witness preparation.
The chamber will decide on the withdrawal application today. The chamber will also be deciding wether deputy president William Ruto should be allowed to fly back to the country just in case there are more proceedings.
Remember that witness 25 is very key to the prosecution and if the witness is pulled out, the ICC case may collapse! Witness 25 was heavily relied upon in the confirmation of the Ruto and Sang case in 2012 by the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber.
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