Kenyatta and his Deputy, William Ruto are both face charges at the court relating to the wave of violence that swept Kenya after elections in late 2007, in which 1,200 people died.
Foreign media reports monitored in Abuja said, “Defence lawyers last week asked for the original start date of November 12 to be dropped, saying Kenyatta needed time to deal with the aftermath of the September attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi.
Prosecutors, pressed for time as they attempt to replace witnesses who withdrew in the run-up to the trial, did not contest the defence’s request for a postponement in a court submission made on Wednesday.
“The Chamber deeply regrets that repeated adjournments of the trial have been necessary because one or both parties have required more time to prepare,” judges wrote in their decision to grant a third successive postponement to Kenyatta’s trial.
The case is seen as a test of the credibility of the decade-old court which is under criticism by African leaders who accused it of picking only on Africans for prosecution. In Kenya, Kenyatta has been urged to boycott his trial.
