THE HAGUE — The presiding judge in the International Criminal Court trial of Kenya’s deputy president issued a stern warning Wednesday against witness intimidation and revealing the names of protected witnesses testifying in the case.
The warning came amid reports that the identity of the first witness, who took the stand Tuesday, had been exposed in Kenya, and it underscored deep-rooted concerns that witness interference could undermine the landmark case — the court’s first trial of such a high-ranking politician while he is still in office.
Deputy President William Ruto and broadcaster Joshua Arap Sang are accused of orchestrating deadly violence after Kenya’s 2007 presidential election. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji called on people ‘‘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.’’
Even before the trial started, prosecutors made claims of witness intimidation, while defense lawyers alleged that the case is built on lies.