Andrew Simmons

Andrew Simmons's picture
Andrew Simmons
Correspondent | Kenya
Biography

Andrew Simmons, a senior Africa correspondent, has more than 20 years of experience in high profile television news, and is an experienced war correspondent.

He has covered Chechnya, the Bosnian conflict and the first Gulf War, during which he spent more than one week in captivity in Basra. His laurels include two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards. 

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By Andrew Simmons in Africa on November 7th, 2009
Photo by Reuters

The International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced before leaving Kenya on Saturday that he had a “strong case” against key suspects in the violence that followed the 2007 Presidential elections.

He emphasised the importance of avoiding any more unnecessary delays and said he hoped to present two to three cases before judges at The Hague, possibly by July next year.

He agreed to an exclusive interview. This is my transcript:

Q: What is your assurance to Kenyan people after your visit here?

"Now I will go to the judges, it’s a judicial process, you have to understand that. The judges will decide if I can open up an investigation then I will be back.

I will go to the community, I will see the victims, I will listen to them. I have to collect the evidence.

By Andrew Simmons in Africa on November 5th, 2009
Photo by Reuters

Kenyan politics was to blame for the bloodbath in the wake of Presidential elections – and the politics of this country are also to blame for the absence of justice nearly two years later.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court plans to change that. But any hope he may have had in getting the active co-operation of the Grand Coalition formed as part of the peace deal that pulled Kenya back from the brink of civil war appear to have been dashed.

His hope had been for the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to formally request the ICC’s intervention, triggering an immediate opening of his inquiry. In a meeting that lasted less than an hour, that was not the case.

Al Jazeera Live

Biography

Andrew Simmons's picture
Andrew Simmons
Correspondent
Andrew Simmons has more than 20 years of experience in high profile television news.

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