ICC Seeks Kenya Government’s Views on Release of Lawyer Paul Gicheru

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking the views of the Kenyan government on the request by lawyer Paul Gicheru for conditional release from detention.

Gicheru requested to be freed from the ICC detention when he appeared before Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Pre-Trial Chamber A on November 6th.

Judge Alapini-Gansou has given the Kenyan government until November 26th to present its views on Gicheru’s request.

The court wants the government to give certain undertakings to “enforce one or more conditions restricting liberty the Chamber could potentially impose.”

These conditions include barring Gicheru from traveling abroad without the explicit agreement of the Chamber, visiting certain places or associate with certain persons as specified by the Pre-Trial Chamber, contacting victims or witnesses directly or indirectly, engaging in certain professional activities, ensuring he resides at a particular address as specified by the Chamber, and honoring summons by an authority or a qualified person designated by the Chamber.

“In this regard, the Chamber specifically requests Kenya to provide observations as to its willingness and ability to facilitate the possibility of Mr. Gicheru traveling between Kenya and the Netherlands for the purposes of the proceedings in the present case,” the order states.

Gicheru surrendered himself to the Dutch authorities on November 2nd and was later transferred to the ICC detention center. This came five years after the court issued a warrant of arrest against him.

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 case 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.