NAIROBI –Kenyan deputy president William Ruto said the International Criminal Court case against him collapsed because he was innocent of fomenting election violence which killed 1 200 people.
ICC judges dismissed charges against Ruto and broadcaster Joshua Sang on Tuesday, saying political interference and witness-tampering had made a fair trial impossible.
A similar ICC case against president Uhuru Kenyatta fell apart in December 2015. In both cases, prosecutors alleged that witnesses were bribed or threatened into recanting.
In his first public comment since the decision, Ruto said he had not been involved in buying weapons or funding or planning the violence, following a disputed election in December 2007.
“The allegations that were made against me were criminal acts of evil minds who schemed, connived, colluded and fabricated a case against us,” he said.
Ruto, who is expected to run again in elections next year and possibly for the presidency in 2022, rejected an ICC statement that the case unravelled because of political and witness interference.
Ruto, whose 2012 political alliance with Kenyatta in the ruling Jubilee coalition was seen as a marriage of convenience to fight the ICC charges, thanked the president for his support.
“One man defied everyone’s expectation except mine to stand by me. I want to thank my dear friend, Uhuru Kenyatta,” he said.
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