A Kenyan lawyer, Dola Indidis, has repeatedly attempted to seek justice through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, alleging that the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ over 2,000 years ago were unlawful.
Indidis, a former spokesman of the Kenyan Judiciary, targeted the states of Israel and Italy, claiming they should be held accountable for the historical events, but his efforts have been met with consistent legal rejections.
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Indidis first filed his petition in 2007 at the High Court in Nairobi, but the court dismissed it, stating it lacked jurisdiction over a 2,000-year-old case from the Roman Empire.
Undeterred, he took his case to the ICJ in 2013, arguing that the trial violated Jesus’ human rights through “judicial misconduct, abuse of office, bias, and prejudice.”
The ICJ rejected the petition, clarifying that it only handles disputes between states, not individual or historical claims.
An ICJ official reportedly stated, “The ICJ has no jurisdiction for such a case. It is not even theoretically possible for us to consider this case.”
In March 2017, Indidis renewed his lawsuit at the ICJ, again seeking to hold Israel responsible for the trial, crucifixion, and death of Jesus Christ.
He accused the state of Israel of historical atrocities against Jesus and urged the court to address the “inhuman torture, pain, and disgrace” inflicted. However, this attempt was also dismissed for the same jurisdictional reasons, with legal experts noting the ICJ’s limited scope to hear such cases.
Indidis’s petition names historical figures like Tiberius (emperor of Rome, 42 BCE-37 CE), Pontius Pilate, King Herod, and a selection of Jewish elders, alongside the modern states of Italy and Israel.
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He argues that these states are liable because, upon gaining independence, they incorporated laws of the Roman Empire in force at the time of the crucifixion.
“Evidence today is on record in the Bible, and you cannot discredit the Bible,” Indidis told Kenyan Citizen News, emphasizing his belief that the governments for whom these historical figures acted should be held accountable.
“I filed the case because it’s my duty to uphold the dignity of Jesus, and I have gone to the ICJ to seek justice for the man from Nazareth,” Indidis told the Nairobian.
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He challenges the mode of questioning during Jesus’s trial, the form of punishment meted out, and the substance of the information used to convict him, asserting that the prosecution violated Jesus’ human rights.
Despite his persistence, legal experts have repeatedly stated that Indidis’s case has little chance of success. The ICJ’s jurisdictional limitations make it impossible to hear a case not brought by a state against another state.
There have been no reported updates on the case since 2021 when he refiled the petition again and decided to use the Bible as evidence.
