Raila Wants International Agencies to Probe Lawyer Paul Gicheru's 'Mysterious' Death

ODM leader Raila Odinga has called for a “thorough and credible” investigation into the mysterious death of lawyer Paul Gicheru.

Gicheru, who had been charged at the International Criminal Court (ICC) with bribing witnesses in the collapsed case of President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang, was found dead at his home in Nairobi’s Karen estate on Monday night. 

"Reports in the public domain indicate that Gicheru died in suspicious and mysterious circumstances. His son was reportedly rushed to the hospital in unclear circumstances at the time of his father's death," Odinga said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Raila Odinga takes this opportunity to express his deepest condolences to the family and friends of Gicheru. Odinga calls for a thorough and credible investigation to uncover the circumstances of his death and his son's illness."

Odinga said it is puzzling how Gicheru was found dead before The Hague-based court issued its final verdict on the case against him.

"Gicheru's death comes in the wake of others who have been associated with the ICC cases, especially high profile witnesses. This pattern of mysterious and unexplained deaths, some of them gruesome and macabre, is extremely disturbing," Odinga added.

He wants international security agencies to take over the probe into the death of Gicheru to avoid a cover-up in Kenya.

"To avoid a cover-up in Kenya, we call upon international investigative agencies, including Interpol, to lead the investigation. This is particularly so because the case has international implications as Gicheru was in the custody of the ICC at the time of his death. Kenya is a party to the ICC statute and should fully cooperate with the investigation,” Odinga said.

The lawyer had pleaded not guilty to eight counts of offenses against the administration of justice in the collapsed case of Ruto and Sang, who were both charged with fomenting ethnic violence after the disputed 2007 election in which 1,200 people died.