ICC prosecutors seek delay

ICC prosecutors said on Friday that they had asked judges to push the October 7 start date of Kenyatta's trial back until Kenyan authorities comply with a request to turn over information that could be used as evidence.

The Hague-based court's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said the case should be postponed indefinitely rather than dropped because the Kenyan government is not fully cooperating with the court.

"The accused person in this case is the head of a government that has so far failed to fully comply with its obligations to the Court," Bensouda said in a filing.

The development is a significant setback for the court, which suffers from limitations that have led to a string of collapsed cases. The ICC has no police force and thus relies on local authorities in countries where it is investigating alleged crimes, to arrest suspects, who are sometimes members of government forces. The court is also accused of singling out Africans for prosecution.

Kenyatta is accused of inciting interethnic violence in the wake of Kenya's 2007 presidential elections, which left more than 1,000 people dead. He is charged as an "indirect co-perpetrator" for crimes including murder, rape and persecution allegedly committed by others. Kenyatta, who was elected president in 2012, denies the charges against him.

The trial was originally scheduled to begin February 5, but has been postponed several times while prosecutors attempt to compile more evidence. A key prosecution witness, meanwhile, refused to testify and another admitted to giving false evidence. Charges against two other Kenyans originally charged alongside Kenyatta have been dropped.

The latest request to the Kenyan government, made in April, includes records relating to Kenyatta's finances that prosecutors hoped would provide the evidence needed to convict him.

dr/pfd (AP, Reuters, AFP)