Kenyan Vice President Ruto faces war crimes charges at The Hague 10 (UPI) -- Kenyan Vice President William Ruto chose violence to consolidate his grip on power during previous elections, the chief international prosecutor said. Ruto and national broadcast director Joshua Arap Sang appeared Tuesday before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The court accused both men of murder and other crimes against humanity following elections in 2007. Ruto was appointed vice president earlier this year. President Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to appear before the court to face similar charges in November. Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor at the ICC, was quoted by The Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya as saying Ruto was keen to take power by any means necessary. "Mr. Ruto's ultimate goal was to seize political power for himself and his party ... through violent means if he could not do so through the ballot," she said. When the election was lost, he made the order to go to war. More than 1,000 Kenyans died during the post-election violence. The chief prosecutor said Sang was the "voice of hate" during the crisis. Both men deny the charges filed against them at the ICC. Kenyan lawmakers last week voted to sever ties with the court. The ICC said the decision had no bearing on cases already on its books.