A lawyer turned himself in to Dutch authorities on Monday to face accusations at the International Criminal Court for bribing witnesses in a trial of Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto which collapsed four years ago.
Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru was wanted on an ICC arrest warrant dating from 2015 that accused him of trying to bribe six prosecution witnesses to recant testimony in the case.
Ruto and his co-accused, radio presenter Joshua Sang, were both charged of being the forces behind ethnic violence after a disputed 2007 election in which over 1,200 people were killed.
ICC Judges ruled in 2016 that the two had no case to answer, although they left the door open for possible fresh charges in future, noting that the case had been hampered by political interference and threats against witnesses.
Deputy William Ruto’s office would not comment on Gicheru’s case, other than to stress that Gicheru had never acted for him as an attoney on record. By the time of going to press it was not clear if Gicheru had obtained a legal representative.
In a statement the ICC said it had asked the Dutch to hand over Gicheru to the court as soon as arrest procedures have been completed.
A similar case alleging a role in the 2007 election violence against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also collapsed in 2015.
Paul Gacheru practices law In Eldoret. His parents and his nuclear family are residents of Eldoret. Last week he travelled to the U.K to visit his children who are in Universities there. That was his first time to travel out of the Country since ICC issued a warrant of arrest against him. I think it was difficult to arrest Gacheru while in Kenya.
ICC Prosecutors who have been tracking him realised he was in the U.K.and they decided to effect the arrest. Iam told the arresting officers gave him the option of either surrendering or if not they intended to arrest him. He opted to surrender.
It is now apparent that Ruto’s file at the ICC is likely to be reopened..
Source: KENYAGIST.COM
