Revealed: Lawyer Paul Gicheru’s phone called Ruto witnesses

Lawyer Paul Gicheru’s office landline was among various phone numbers used to call witnesses who were set to testify against Deputy President William Ruto, a new filing by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, has revealed.

The filing, made public yesterday, also reveals that ICC investigators had interviewed Mr Gicheru in September 2018, some two years before he surrendered to the Hague-based court.

During that interview, Mr Gicheru confirmed knowledge of phone numbers that are alleged to have been used in the scheme to tamper with witnesses.

Phone numbers and money transfers are at the centre of the prosecution’s case against Mr Gicheru, who surrendered to the ICC on November 2, 2020. The revelations became public yesterday, in a filing by Ms Bensouda opposing the lifting of the arrest warrant against the lawyer.

Mr Gicheru was released in January after being in the ICC custody since November 2020. He is accused of corruptly influencing prosecution witnesses who were to testify against DP Ruto.

Arrest warrant

According to the filing, ICC investigators held an interview with Mr Gicheru on September 20, 2018 during which they gave him a chance “to present his side.”

“While he denied the charges and professed not to have had any dealings with the six witnesses named in the application, he did confirm various phone numbers alleged to have been used in the scheme, including his office landline,” the prosecution states.

The phone records also revealed the contacts he made with witness P-0397. 

The prosecution is opposing the defence’s request to have the arrest warrant against Mr Gicheru lifted.

According to Ms Bensouda, the trial of Dr Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang  was terminated largely due to a witness bribery and statement recantation scheme for which Mr Gicheru now stands accused.

Voluntarily surrendered

Thus, the prosecution says, there is every reason for Mr Gicheru to want to evade justice despite having voluntarily surrendered.

Ms Bensouda also says that alleged members of the scheme to interfere with prosecution witnesses remain influential.

“The ultimate beneficiary of the scheme, William Samoei Ruto, is still the Deputy President of Kenya. Additionally, since the warrant was issued, Gicheru has been appointed to a senior position in a Kenyan State Corporation, providing reasonable grounds to believe that his ability to obstruct the prosecution’s investigations and any subsequent proceedings may in fact have increased,” the prosecution says.

Mr Gicheru had requested the court to lift the warrant against him since he had voluntarily surrendered and also to remove any restrictions that might prevent him from travelling to The Hague whenever required.

Phone records

That phone numbers and phone records are at the centre of the prosecution’s case against Mr Gicheru also emerges in a separate filing by the prosecution. Upon his surrender, Mr Gicheru’s mobile phone was confiscated and the prosecution has disclosed that it has been conducting a forensic examination on the gadget.

The gadget has turned out to be a treasure trove of evidence against the Kenyan lawyer. The prosecution says it is arranging to interview a potential witness who is believed to have received payments from Mr Gicheru based on evidence believed to have been obtained from the mobile phone.

The prosecution is also considering two additional counts of corruptly influencing a witness based on evidence retrieved from the phone.

Mr Gicheru’s warrant was issued alongside another against Philip Kipkoech Bett in March 2015, and unsealed on September 2015, kick-starting a long process targeting the two Kenyans.

Mr Gicheru and Mr Bett, who is still at large, are both accused of corruptly influencing witnesses in the case against DP Ruto and Sang.

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