"Kenya president to step down during court hearing" Associated Press October 07, 2014
NAIROBI — President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya on Monday told the nation in an address before Parliament that he would temporarily step down as president while attending a hearing at the International Criminal Court this week.
Kenyatta faces charges of crimes against humanity at the court in The Hague for allegations that he helped instigate violence that followed Kenya’s 2007 presidential election, when more than 1,000 people were killed.
The court ordered him to attend a status hearing Wednesday. The hearing would be the first time a sitting president attends an ICC session, a mark Kenyatta’s political supporters have urged him to avoid.
Seeking to bypass that notation in history, the president on Monday said he would invoke a never-before-used article of the constitution that will see Deputy President William Ruto temporarily become president. The temporary abdication is Kenyatta’s way of fulfilling the court order but doing so as a private citizen during the hearing.
In his speech, Kenyatta maintained his innocence, noted that the ICC prosecutor has been admonished by the court for her faltering case and recalled that the African Union has passed a resolution granting immunity from international tribunals for sitting presidents.
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UPDATE: International justice: You and what army?
