Kenyan vice-president William Ruto victim of 'conspiracy of lies' Mr Ruto, 46, is the first sitting deputy head of state to face trial at the world court. He is charged alongside Joshua arap Sang, a Kenyan radio executive. Both have pleaded not guilty to three charges. "We say that there is a rotten underbelly of this case that the prosecutor has swallowed hook, line and sinker, indifferent to the truth, all too eager to latch on to any...story that somehow ticks the boxes that we have to tick," to support charges, he told the court. Earlier, Fatou Bensouda, the ICC's chief prosecutor, said Mr Ruto intended to seize power "through violent means" when he directed gangs to kill opponents during post-election violence six years ago. "The crimes of which Mr Ruto and Mr Sang are charged were not just random and spontaneous acts of brutality," Ms Bensouda told the ICC's Trial Chamber 5 at the start of three-and-a-half weeks of initial hearings. This was a carefully planned and executed plan of violence...Ruto's ultimate goal was to seize political power for himself and his party in the event he could not do so via the ballot box. Mr Sang, she said, was his "main mouthpiece" who "broadcast...rhetoric [and] spread the word of attacks through...coded messages." More than 1,300 people died and 600,000 were made homeless as supporters of rival politicians burned homes and attacked opponents with machetes, bows and arrows and spears during weeks of clashes in late 2007 and early 2008. The trials are a major test for the ICC. It has secured only one conviction in 11 years of operations, and faces increased contempt in Africa for indicting only people from that continent. But survivors and those who lost family and friends in the weeks of violence that followed Kenya's disputed 2007 polls have welcomed the proceedings as the only chance they have for justice. The trial continues on Wednesday and initial hearings are scheduled to run until October 4. The case is expected to last at least 12 months.