William Ruto, the deputy president of Kenya, began trial on Tuesday at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands facing charges of crimes against humanity, CNN reported.
Ruto is suspected of carrying out acts of murder and persecution that left more than 1,000 people dead following a disputed presidential election six years ago. He denies any wrongdoing.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto's boss, faces the same charges and will appear in court in November.
Radio personality Joshua arap Sang, a third suspect in the case, is being tried with Ruto and also denies the allegations.
The disputed election caused hundreds of thousands to be displaced after loyalists to the leading candidates torched homes and killed rivals. Both Ruto and Kenyatta say they did not coordinate or encourage violence following the election.
However, the ICC's top prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said her team would prove how Ruto and his associates exploited tensions in Kenya for their own political and personal gains.
Bensouda said the evidence demonstrates how the violence outbreaks "were not just random and spontaneous acts of brutality -- on the contrary, this was a carefully planned, coordinated and executed campaign of violence" that targeted certain people.
"Mr. Ruto's ultimate goal was to seize power for himself and his party through violent means," she added.
The prosecution alleges Ruto created a network of allies from the Kalenjin ethnic group, including youth members, take carry out the attacks. He recruited allies with the help of Sang, a popular radio host, who used his public platform to villainize the Kikuyu ethnic group in the Rift Valley.
Ruto's lawyer, Karim Khan, accuses the Bensouda's accusations as "exceptionally deficient" and of being based from "lying witnesses." He also suggested Ruto deserves praise for being the first deputy head of state to willing face his charges from the ICC.
