The International Criminal Court (ICC) will on Tuesday, February 15, open the trial of Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru over alleged witness tampering.
Gicheru is accused of corruptly influencing witnesses in the case against Deputy President William Ruto which was ruled out in 2016 due to lack of sufficient evidence.
The lawyer surrendered to the authorities on November 2, 2020, five years after a warrant of arrest was issued against him, accusing him of making an offense against administration of justice.
Gicheru made his first appearance at The Hague based court on November 6, 2020 and has since been out on conditional bail.
According to the ICC, the lawyer contacted and corrupted the witnesses to undermine the prosecution of Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang.
“Specifically, with relation to eight witnesses, Mr Gicheru and other members of the common plan allegedly identified, located and contacted the witnesses, offered and /or paid them financial or other benefits, and or threatened or intimidated them, in order to induce them to withdraw as prosecution witnesses, cease cooperating with the prosecution and/or the Court, and or to recant the evidence which they had provided to the Prosecution,” the court said in a July 2021 statement.
The opening trial will however not see the defense team to present any statements.