Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru, accused of corruptly influencing International Criminal Court (ICC) witnesses, has surrendered to the authorities in Netherlands.
A warrant of arrest was issued against Gicheru, and Philip Kipkoech Bett was issued in March 2015 by Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court. A similar warrant of arrest was issued against Walter Barasa in August 2013.
The three were accused of witness interference and bribery among other claims of impropriety, which allegedly led to suspects recanting evidence and becoming hostile in a case that roped President Uhuru Kenyatta and and his Deputy William Ruto.
President Kenyatta and Ruto were facing a case on crimes against humanity during the 2007/8 post-election violence alongside former Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey, former secretary to the cabinet Francis Kirimi Muthaura, former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali and radio host Joshua Arap Sang.
Read: ICC Responds To DP William Ruto’s Allegations Of Reviving PEV Case
The case against President Kenyatta collapsed in 2015 while other collapsed in 2016 as the ICC accused Kenyan government of being no-cooperative, while some witnesses bolted out while others disappeared.
Gicheru is accused of being the manager of a scheme that finalised agreements with corrupted witnesses, organised the formalisation of their withdrawal and handled the payment.
Bett is said to have been the contact person between witnesses and Mr Gicheru. Walter Barasa is said to have played a similar role.
Witnesses who accepted to be corrupted were used to contact other witnesses for the same.
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