Kenya Police Probe Death Of Lawyer On Trial For ICC Witness Tampering

Kenyan police were investigating the death of a lawyer who was on trial for allegedly bribing and intimidating witnesses in the failed International Criminal Court case against President William Ruto, an officer said Tuesday, IgbereTV reports 

Paul Gicheru had been accused by ICC prosecutors of running an “egregious and damaging” witness tampering scheme that made it impossible to pursue allegations against Ruto over post-election violence in Kenya in 2007-2008.

His trial opened in February this year, with prosecutors alleging that Gicheru paid bribes of up to one million Kenyan shillings ($8,300) and threatened the safety of ICC witnesses, one of them at gunpoint.

Gicheru had denied the allegations throughout, pleading not guilty at The Hague-based court, which is the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal.

“The information we have from the family is that he had a meal and went to sleep and never woke. He was found dead in the house late Monday evening,” a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“An investigation is under way because we do not know the cause of death yet,” he said, adding that Gicheru’s son had been taken to hospital after complaining of stomach pains following their meal together.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission urged the authorities to “conduct swift and conclusive investigations” into the death.

“While the full details surrounding this death are still emerging, we remain concerned with the shocking news of the untimely death of Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru,” the KHRC said on Twitter