Kenyan Lawyer Paul Gicheru Denies Six Charges Before the ICC

Kenyan attorney Paul Gicheru made his first appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday days after he surrendered himself.

He was brought before Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Pre-Trial Chamber A where he denied all the six charges leveled against him.

“I do not admit the false allegations levelled against me,” he said.

Gicheru, who made a request to represent himself, further asked the court to release him from custody. But the prosecution advised him to seek legal counsel as opposed to representing himself.

“I was not coerced into coming here. I came on my own volition and met all the expenses for my travel,” Gicheru told the Court.

The judge said the court will rule on the matter once the accused follows the laid out procedure of seeking release through writing formally.

During the session, the judge verified the identity of the suspect and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings. He was also informed of the charges against him and his rights under the Rome Statute.

Gicheru presented himself to the Dutch authorities on November 2nd and was later transferred to the ICC detention centre.

He is suspected of offenses against the administration of justice consisting of corruptly influencing witnesses.

Gicheru is believed to have bribed or attempted to bribe six key prosecution witnesses by offering them bribes and other inducements so that they could recant their evidence and withdraw as witnesses. 

The withdrawal of the witnesses led to the collapse of the criminal cases against Deputy President William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang, who were being tried over the 2007/2008 post-election skirmishes that led to the death of at least 1,300 people and over 600,000 displaced.

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II issued an arrest warrant against Gicheru on March 10th, 2015.