Lawyer Paul Gicheru, who was accused of tampering with witnesses who were to testify against President William Ruto at the International Criminal Court, has passed away.
The lawyer’s family has confirmed his demise. However, the family pledged to provide additional information regarding their kin’s passing on Tuesday.
The prosecution of the deceased over the alleged bribery of witnesses who were to testify against Dr Ruto over the 2007/08 post-election violence that left 1,200 people dead was closed by the ICC in June.
At the conclusion of the trial, which lasted 19 months and had several references to Dr Ruto, Gicheru’s lawyer and the ICC prosecutors engaged in a heated exchange of counterarguments.
Read: Gicheru Case: ICC Witness Claims to have Received Bribe to Scuttle DP Ruto Case
Trial judge Miatta Maria Samba stated that the chamber will consider the evidence and provide a verdict—conviction or acquittal—within a reasonable amount of time.
In November 2020, Mr Gicheru turned himself in to Dutch authorities in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court.
On 10 March 2015, a sealed arrest warrant was issued for Mr Gicheru and Philip Kipkoech Bett. On 10 September 2015, the sealed warrant was made public.
On charges of hindering the administration of justice, the court had issued arrest warrants for three Kenyans, Walter Barasa, Paul Gicheru, and Phillip Bett.
Read Also: UDA Writes to Uhuru, ICC Over ‘State Sponsored Violence’
Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova of the trial chamber initially issued the arrest warrant for Mr Gicheru under seal on March 10, 2015.
Chaos broke out on December 31, 2007, following Mwai Kibaki’s declaration as the victor of the presidential election, which he had tightly contested with ODM leader Raila Odinga.
According to the prosecutor, a criminal scheme to repeatedly approach and corruptly influence prosecution witnesses through bribery and other inducements in exchange for their withdrawal as prosecution witnesses and/or recantation of their prior statements to the prosecutor began operating at least as early as April 2013.
According to the evidence, the plan in question had been managed in an orderly fashion with a distinct division of labor.
Read Also: Running the City Was a Difficult Task – NMS General Badi Says
Particularly, Mr Gicheru was identified as the manager and organizer, which means that he finalized agreements with bribed witnesses, coordinated their formal withdrawal, and oversaw payment.
Mr Bett’s responsibility was to speak with the witnesses—at least some of whom they knew already—and give preliminary suggestions before putting them before the management, in particular Paul Gicheru.
The evidence showed that Walter Osapiri Barasa, for whom the Court had issued an arrest order on August 2, 2013, played a similar role inside the same conspiracy.
There was also information to the effect that witnesses who were successfully duped were encouraged to speak with other witnesses in order to dupe them.
Read Also: IEBC Put Kenya to Shame – Raila Says
He was charged with offering Sh5 million in the first case in exchange for a witness known as P-397 withholding their testimony.
Regarding a different witness known as P-516, Mr Gicheru met with the witness, went over the terms of the witness’s withdrawal, and came to an agreement with the witness. As a result, the witness neglected to show up for a meeting with ICC officials.
It was also claimed that he had promised the witness P. 800, Sh. 1.5 million in exchange for her withholding testimony. Mr Gicheru was largely unknown to the public prior to the start of the ICC trials.
The cause of death is still unknown.
2 thoughts on “ICC Suspect Lawyer Paul Gicheru is Dead”