( CNN ) -- The International Criminal Court on Thursday postponed the beginning of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta 's trial on charges of crimes against humanity by three months to February 5 , accepting a defense request for more preparation time . The trial at the Netherlands-based ICC had been scheduled to begin on November 12 . The prosecution agreed that certain issues raised by the defense merited further investigation , the court said . Kenyatta was charged last year with five counts of crimes against humanity , stemming from violence that plagued a disputed 2007 Kenyan presidential election , in which then-incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner . More than 1,000 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced when ethnic groups loyal to leading candidates in the December 2007 election torched homes and hacked rivals to death . The charges accuse Kenyatta , who backed Kibaki in the election , of funding a local militia that conducted reprisal attacks . Kibaki continued to serve as President until this year . Kenyatta , the son of Kenya 's founding leader , was elected in March and took office in April . The ICC has also accused Deputy President William Ruto of orchestrating attacks . A third suspect , radio personality Joshua arap Sang , is being tried alongside Ruto on similar charges ; the trial of these two began in September . Kenyatta and Ruto have denied accusations that they coordinated violence among their respective ethnic groups after the disputed election . African Union accuses ICC of bias , seeks delay of cases against sitting leaders . The court -- set up in 2002 to try claims of genocide , crimes against humanity and war crimes -- has ordered Kenyatta to attend opening and closing statements , but has excused him from being at the trial otherwise . The Kenyan parliament voted in September to withdraw from the court 's jurisdiction after repeatedly calling on it to drop the cases . But a withdrawal would take a while to implement because it involves steps such as a formal notification to the United Nations , and the ICC said the trials would proceed . Kenyatta has said he and Ruto would cooperate with the court to clear their names . Kenya 's previous administration reneged on a deal to set up a special tribunal to try suspects in the post-election violence , prompting the international court to step in . Kenya is the second African nation after Sudan to have a sitting president facing charges at the International Criminal Court . Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has largely shunned an ICC warrant for his arrest for alleged war crimes . CNNs Pierre Meilhan , Jason Hanna and Faith Karimi contributed to this report .
Trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta had been scheduled to start on November 12 . Kenyatta charged in International Criminal Court with five counts of crimes against humanity . Charges accuse him of funding militia that conducted attacks after disputed 2007 election . Attacks happened six years before Kenyatta was elected to presidency .