Kenyan deputy president William Ruto appeared at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday for the opening of his trial on charges of co-orchestrating a post-election bloodbath five years ago.

The trials of Ruto and of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, which will start in November, will test the stability of a country seen as vital to security in East Africa. They have split public opinion, and witness testimonies of the violence in 2008 that killed more than 1000 people could stir tension.