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ICC unseals arrest warrant for two Kenyans Gicheru, Bett

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

The pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) unsealed an arrest warrant for Kenyans Paul Gicheru and Philip Kipkoech Bett on Thursday suspected of bribing prosecution witnesses.

The pre-trial chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Bett, hailing from and residing in Kenya, and Gicheru, a lawyer based in Kenya, are criminally responsible for offences against the administration of justice consisting of corruptly influencing prosecution witnesses.

The arrest warrant was initially issued on March 10, 2015, but the chamber made the arrest warrant public on Thursday because Gicheru and Bett were already arrested on July 30, 2015 by the Kenyan police in Nairobi. Since the arrest Gicheru and Bett were made aware of the ICC's warrant of arrest, the confidentiality of the document was no longer justified.

Based on the ICC prosecutor's evidence, the ICC chamber found that it was necessary to arrest the two suspects "to ensure their appearance before the Court and to ensure that they do not obstruct or endanger the investigation or court proceedings and to prevent the further exercise of corrupt influence on the witnesses of the Court".

According to the ICC an effective national prosecution of the two suspects was unlikely to take place and in view of the size and extent of organization of the alleged crimes the chamber found that the ICC should exercise its jurisdiction in this case.

In a statement ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda recalled that around two years ago the pre-trial had already issued an arrest warrant for Walter Osapiri Barasa on the same charges of interfering with ICC witnesses.

"I trust that the Kenyan authorities will fulfil their obligations under the Rome Statute to ensure the surrender of all three suspects to the custody of the Court so that their guilt or innocence on the charges against them may be determined in a court of law," Bensouda said.

According to the prosecutor the investigations into the atrocities committed during the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya have been "methodically undermined by a relentless campaign that has targeted individuals who are perceived to be prosecution witnesses, with threats or offers of bribes, to dissuade them from testifying or persuade witnesses to recant their prior testimony". Endit