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STORY: ICC / WITNESS INTERFERENCE
TRT: 2.11
SOURCE: ICC
RESTRICTIONS:
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 SEPTEMBER 2013, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS
1. Wide shot, Court
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Chile Eboe-Osuji, Trial Chamber's Presiding Judge:
“It is an offence against the administration of justice in this Court, pursuant to Article 70 of the Rome Statute, for anyone to do anything intentionally that would amount to corruptly influencing a witness, obstructing or interfering with the attendance or testimony of a witness, or retaliating against a witness for giving testimony in a case before the Court.”
3. Med shot, Court
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Chile Eboe-Osuji, Trial Chamber's Presiding Judge:
“Conducts such as those, may also amount to contempt of Court under customary international law or general principles recognized by civilized nations.”
5. Med shot, Court
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Chile Eboe-Osuji, Trial Chamber's Presiding Judge:
“Any revelation of the identity of a witness whose identity has been protected by this Court amounts to an offence in this court.”
7. Med shot, Court
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Chile Eboe-Osuji, Trial Chamber's Presiding Judge:
“Bloggers, social media members or participants and their web hosts are particularly called upon to desist from doing anything that would reveal or attempt to reveal the identity of protected witnesses or to engage in secondary dissemination of such wrongful and illegal information. Such conduct will be investigated and the culprits will be prosecuted.”
9. Med shot, Court
Today (18 September 2013) the judge of the trial chamber seized with the case against William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang, issued a special reminder on the importance of witness protection and of possible sanctions for an act or attempted act that is considered an offence against the administration of justice.
Speaking at the beginning of this afternoon’s hearing, Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji stated that “it is an offence against the administration of justice in this Court, pursuant to Article 70 of the Rome Statute, for anyone to do anything intentionally that would amount to corruptly influencing a witness, obstructing or interfering with the attendance or testimony of a witness, or retaliating against a witness for giving testimony in a case before the Court”.
Article 70 provides that, for such conduct, the Court may impose a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine.
Judge Eboe-Osuji added that such conduct “may also amount to contempt of Court” and stressed that “any revelation of the identity of a witness whose identity has been protected by this Court amounts to an offence” in the ICC.
The Chamber called on everyone inside and outside the Courtroom, as well as members of the press, bloggers, social media members or participants and their websites or other online presence “to desist from doing anything that would reveal or attempt to reveal the identity of protected witnesses or to engage in secondary dissemination of such wrongful and illegal information”.
The Presiding Judge concluded the special reminder by stating that “such conduct will be investigated and the culprits will be prosecuted.”
Ruto and Arap are accused of being criminally responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator of the crimes against humanity including murder, deportation or forcible transfer of population and persecution.
