Kenyan Lawyer Paul Gicheru Found Dead at His Karen Home

• Lawyer Paul Gicheru was found dead at his Karen home after he took a late lunch and complained that he was unwell
• Gicheru had been summoned to appear at the Hague to answer accusations of interfering with the cases against William Ruto by bribing witnesses
• He was issued a warrant of arrest on March 10, 2015, but surrendered in Spetember the same year pleading not guilty to all charges against him

Police have confirmed that Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru was found dead at his Karen home in Nairobi.

Gicheru faced witness interference charges at the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICC) at the Hague.

“He was suspected of offences against the administration of justice consisting in corruptly influencing witnesses of the Court,” ICC said.

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Police, based on reports from the family said Gicheru took some late lunch and felt unwell.

“He had late lunch and felt unwell and went to bed but he did not wake up.

“His son too collapsed and was taken to Karen hospital in stable condition,” police added.

He was accused by the prosecution that he was meeting key witnesses in President William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta’s case at an undisclosed location in Eldoret, where he gave them huge amounts of money as bribes and also threatened their lives.

The International Court dropped the case against William Ruto in 2016, saying the case had interfered with political interference and witnesses’ lives were at imminent risk.

The making of submissions by the defense team was concluded in July 2022.

After the submissions, the matter is left with the trial chamber III of the ICC, which was yet to deliver a ruling on the case against the departed Gicheru.

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Gicheru’s submissions, prosecution’s reply

The prosecution at ICC was led by Anton Steynberg, while the defence was handled by Michael Karnavas and Suzana Tomanovic.

The prosecution preferred charges against the Kenyan lawyer while the defence made submissions to defend their client.

Gicheru told the court to dismiss the case against him while the prosecution called for a guilty ruling on all counts against the Kenyan lawyer.

The defense team said the prosecution did not have enough grounds to deliver a verdict that implicated Gicheru because he was not guilty of the charges.

The prosecution called on the chamber to prefer a guilty verdict on the Kenyan lawyer because the submissions by the defence lacked merit and were not substantial enough to determine the outcome of the sensitive case.

Warrant of Arrest

The arrest warrant was issued under seal against the Kenyan lawyer and Philip Kipkoech on March 10, 2015, and unsealed on September 10, 2015, for offences against the administration of justice consisting in corruptly influencing witnesses.

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Philip Kipkoech did not appear in court to answer to charges against him.

On November 2, 2022, Gicheru surrendered to the authorities of the Netherlands pursuant to this arrest warrant for offences against the administration of justice consisting in corruptly influencing witnesses of the Court.

On the following day, he was surrendered to ICC custody after completing the necessary national proceedings.

His first appearance before the Court took place on November 6, 2020. On December 11, 2020, Pre-Trial Chamber A severed the cases against Gicheru and Kipkoech.

On February 1, 2021, Paul Gicheru was released to Kenya with specific conditions restricting liberty during the confirmation of charges proceedings.

“This follows Pre-Trial Chamber A’s decision on 29 January 2021, granting Mr Gicheru interim release with conditions,” the prosecution said in part.

On July 15, 2022, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber A confirmed the charges of offences against the administration of justice brought by the prosecutor against Paul Gicheru and committed him to trial.

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The trial opened before Trial Chamber III in February of the next year. The accused pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The prosecution then presented its opening statements and called its first witness. 8 witnesses testified for the prosecution, the last one finished testifying on March 24, 2022.

The Office of the Prosecutor completed its presentation of evidence on March 29, 2022. The Defence announced on April 25, 2022, that it will not call any witnesses.

“Trial Chamber III will deliberate on the proceedings and, within a reasonable period, pronounce its decision on conviction or acquittal,” ICC said in a statement.

The closing statements, in this case, took place on June 27, 2022.

Conditions issued to Gicheru on release to Kenya

Before he travelled to Kenya, the prosecution, through the pre-trial chamber A, imposed a raft of conditions restricting his liberty.

The conditions included;

1. shall provide financial security to the ICC Registrar in the form of cash or bank order to the value of KSH 1,000,000 (one million Kenyan shillings)
2. shall comply fully with all orders issued in this case and surrender himself immediately to the relevant authorities if required by the Chamber
3. shall appear before the Chamber at the date, time, place, and in the manner ordered by the Chamber and shall remain in attendance until excused
4. shall not obstruct or endanger the investigation or the court proceedings and shall not engage in any activities, directly or indirectly, that are prohibited under article 70 of the Statute
5. shall not contact, directly or indirectly, any of the Prosecutor’s witnesses or victims in this case, except through counsel authorised to represent him before this Court and in accordance with the applicable protocols
6. shall not, directly or through any other person, make any public statements, social media post, or communicate with the media about the merits of the case
7. shall reside in Kenya at a specific address for the duration of the proceedings when not present in the Netherlands for the purposes of court proceedings, unless otherwise authorised in advance by the Chamber
8. shall provide the Registrar with copies of all passports, visas, identity documents, and any other travel documents issued to him; shall not travel internationally except to the extent permitted by the Chamber and shall inform the Registrar or his delegate, no later than seven days prior to any international travel
9. shall report once a week to the Registrar, his delegate, or another person (s) on the date and time and in the manner to be determined by the Registrar, which may include the use of video conferencing technology
10. shall provide the Registrar with all mobile and other telephone numbers and shall ensure that at least one of his mobile telephone numbers remains active and with sufficient credit to be reachable at any time.

Source: TUKO.co.ke