He would then go back to the Hague next Tuesday when the first

Kenyan deputy president orchestrated post

Canada Goose Jackets THE HAGUE/NAIROBI (Reuters) Kenya deputy president played an important role in the post election bloodbath that engulfed Kenya in early 2008, the International Criminal Court prosecutor told judges at the opening of his trial on Tuesday.

buy canada goose jacket cheap Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto (R) reacts as he sits in the courtroom before his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague September 10, 2013. Ruto appeared at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday for the opening of his trial on charges of co orchestrating a post election bloodbath five years ago. REUTERS/Michael Kooren

canadian goose jacket The most senior canada goose clearance serving politician to appear in the dock at the Hague court, William Ruto pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity in a case that some Kenyans fear could reignite the political violence they have struggled to put behind them.

Ruto and co defendant Joshua arap Sang are accused of working with other conspirators to murder, deport and persecute supporters of rival parties in the Rift Valley region.

canada goose coats assigned responsibilities, raised finance, procured weapons, over the 18 months leading up to the elections, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the court. the election was lost, he gave canada goose factory sale the order to attack.

Canada Goose online crimes of which Mr. Ruto and Mr. Sang are charged were not just random and spontaneous acts of brutality, she said.

was a carefully planned and executed plan. Ruto ultimate goal was to seize political power for himself and his party in the event he could not do so via the ballot box.

canada goose clearance Ruto appeared Canada Goose Outlet relaxed ahead of procedings, laughing and smiling with his lawyers, while Sang gave the thumbs up to a reporter. Dozens Canada Goose Coats On Sale of supporters packed the visitors gallery.

canada goose store Prosecutors said their first witness, who had been due to speak this week, would not appear until next Tuesday. Some witnesses have pulled out in the run up to the trial, a setback prosecutors said was due to intimidation.

Ruto spokesman said the deputy president would return to Kenya on Wendesday, after the prosecutor said witnesses had yet to arrive in the Canada Goose Online Netherlands. He would then go back to the Hague next Tuesday when the first witness is expected to testify.

Ruto lawyer accused prosecutors of using tainted evidence and false testimony, and called on them to drop the charges.

President canada goose black friday sale Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto former rival and now his political ally, will be tried on similar charges in November.

canada goose deals RAMPAGE Rival members of Kenyatta Kikuyu Canada Goose sale https://www.cheapcanadagoose.net and Ruto Kalenjin tribes, wielding machetes, knives, and bows and arrows, went on the rampage after the disputed election, butchering more than 1,200 people and driving hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Last year, Kenyatta and Ruto buried their differences, joining forces to win a March election in an alliance they say makes violence unlikely. Their supporters say the court cases risk undoing years of painstaking reconciliation.

Canada Goose sale Ruto lawyer, Karim Khan, listed what he said were shortcomings in the prosecution case.

Contrary to the claim that Ruto, canada goose clearance sale a Kalenjin, hated the Kikuyu canada goose store tribe, his sisters had both married Kikuyus, Khan said. And, he asked, uk canada goose outlet how likely was it that Ruto had amassed guns and grenades under buy canada goose jacket the eyes of the local Kikuyu police chief?

canada goose black friday sale Khan played a video in which Ruto called for action after the 2007 elections and another in which he pledged to cooperate with the court despite describing the canada goose uk black friday charges he faced as only possible in canada goose uk outlet a movie

canada goose coats on sale The case is a major test for prosecutors at the decade old ICC, who have had a low success uk canada goose rate and face accusations of focusing too much on Africa. It may also complicate relations between Kenya and the West, which sees Nairobi as central to the fight against Islamist militancy in East Africa.

canada goose clearance sale JUSTICE TAKE ITS COURSE At the heart of the violence in canada goose coats on sale the lush Rift Valley town of Eldoret, 300 km (190 miles) northwest of the Nairobi, locals crowded around a television at a restaurant to cheap canada goose uk watch the trial.

would have wished that the cases don take place since we have already reconciled, especially with our Kalenjin neighbours, said Patrick Muchiri, 53, a Kikuyu farmer who was evicted from his home by Kalenjin youths and now buy canada goose jacket cheap lives at a camp housing hundreds of displaced victims of the clashes.

canada goose since the matter is before the canadian goose jacket ICC, let justice take its course. However, our concern is that this might create for us a big problem should they find Ruto liable. It would revive old wounds, he said.

buy canada goose jacket In Naivasha, just north of Nairobi, cheap Canada Goose where Canada Goose online the worst revenge attacks by suspected members of a Kikuyu militia took place, Josiah Otieno, 34, a tailor, looked forward to justice.

Canada Goose Outlet years canada goose outlet of waiting and suffering, we now believe that justice will be done, and those Canada Goose Jackets responsible for our problems punished, said Otieno, who said he was assaulted by Canada Goose Parka militia who set his belongings ablaze.

Canada Goose Parka Kenyan public backing for the ICC has slipped, however. An Ipsos Synovate poll in July showed only 39 percent still wanted canada goose coats the trials to proceed, down from 55 percent in April 2012.

Kenya parliament voted last week for Kenya to withdraw canada goose uk shop from the ICC jurisdiction, though cases canada goose already in progress will continue. President Kenyatta threatened to suspend cooperation with the ICC if he and his deputy were summoned simultaneously, leaving no head of state in residence.