A witness has admitted to International Criminal Court (ICC) judges that he lied about evidence against Deputy President William Ruto after prosecution investigators offered him wealth and other benefits.
He also made a
stinging indictment of the prosecution through a sworn affidavit, saying
they collected evidence from him knowing that it was false.
Following
the admission by Witness 604, prosecution lawyer Mr Anton Steynberg
made an application that he be declared a hostile witness.
However, Mr Ruto's defence team, lead by Mr Karim Khan, vehemently opposed the move.
In
his testimony on Thursday, the witness appeared to tear apart his
earlier, recanted evidence, denying knowledge of obvious subjects such
as being aware of the violence that took place during the post-election
violence in 2008, saying he only heard of it from neighbours.
This
is despite the fact that he had told the court he lived in Turbo in the
Rift Valley, which was one of the places affected by the post-election
violence.
The
witness told the court he had forgotten the names of armed
Kalenjin youths behind the killing of Kikuyus in the Rift Valley in his
earlier evidence given to ICC investigators
The witness had unsuccessfully made a new request for postponement of the hearing earlier in the morning, with presiding judge Chile-Eboe Osuji saying some of the reasons advanced by his lawyer did not provide valid grounds.
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