This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

President Uhuru Kenyatta has become the first head of state to appear before the international criminal court , amid claims his government is withholding vital evidence.

The Kenyan leader has been charged with crimes against humanity for his alleged role in unleashing a wave of post-election violence during 2007-08. He denies the charges.

Kenyatta handed over power to his deputy, William Ruto, before flying to The Hague in Holland. The international statute that established the ICC removed the principle that serving heads of state or governments should be granted immunity from prosecution under international law.

The African Union, which represents countries across the continent, has accused the court of focusing its hearings excessively on African countries. Kenya has cooperated with the ICC while Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has defied repeated summons to appear.

Demonstrators, wearing Kenya’s national colours, sang and danced outside the building before Kenyatta’s arrival. One banner read: “Hands off our prez, he is innocent.”

The president took his seat in court beside his lawyer, Stephen Kay. Wearing a charcoal suit and chequered blue tie, Kenyatta appeared relaxed.

Kay informed the hearing that his client would not address the proceedings. “I will be answering questions on his behalf and he does not choose to make a statement today,” Kay said.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, who has complained about witness intimidation and blamed Nairobi for withholding evidence, was present.

Judge Kuniko Ozaki told Kenyatta he was attending “solely in your capacity as an accused individual”, adding: “You may speak only in your capacity as an accused and may not make statements either of a political nature or in your official capacity.”

The case has been repeatedly delayed. At least seven prosecution witnesses have dropped out amid allegations of bribery and intimidation.

Kenyatta, 52, faces five counts at the ICC over his alleged role in orchestrating the unrest that left 1,200 people dead and 600,000 displaced. The Kenyan leader has appeared at the ICC before, but not since he was elected president in March 2013. Ruto is already on trial at the ICC for his part in the violence. Kenyatta’s trial has yet to begin.

Bensouda last month requested an indefinite postponement, saying Nairobi had refused to cooperate with a request for financial statements and other statements leaving her without enough evidence for a trial.

Ben Gumpert, a prosecutor, told the court that since being elected, Kenyatta had “an exceptional constitutional duty to make sure that these obstructions do not take place”.

The prosecution hopes that documents, such as bank statements and telephone records, will shed light on Kenyatta’s alleged involvement in the violence that brought one of east Africa’s most stable countries to the brink of civil war.

The violence in 2007 began when elections escalated into ethnic conflict, for which Kenyatta and Ruto were charged with crimes against humanity. Both deny the charges.

What began as political riots quickly turned into the killing of people from Kenyatta’s Kikuyu ethnic group, who in return launched reprisal attacks, plunging Kenya into a wave of violence.