Trial against lawyer Paul Gicheru at ICC enters day 2

The trial of lawyer Paul Gicheru at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague entered the second day with defense lawyers poking holes into the testimony of the first prosecution witness.

Gicheru’s lawyer Michael Karnavas questioned the motive behind the witness’s recorded conversations claiming he was coached before his allegations against Gicheru were tape-recorded by the prosecution team.

Witness P-800 whose face and voice were distorted for his protection, however, refuted the defence claims that he was coached.

Karnavas further questioned the details of the meeting, and why the witness did not mention it until Monday when the trial began.

Witness P-800 whose face and voice were distorted for his protection, however, refuted the defence claims that he was coached.

Prosecutors allege that Gicheru was among a group of conspirators that approached prosecution witnesses and offered them money to recant their evidence and withdraw from the case against Deputy President William Ruto and Joshua Sang.

Gicheru, who surrendered himself to the ICC is accused of corruptly influencing witnesses in the case which was dismissed in 2016 due to insufficient evidence.

The ICC believes lawyer Gicheru committed offences against the administration of justice in order to undermine the Prosecution’s case against Ruto and Sang.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant against lawyer Gicheru and Philip Kipkoech Bett on March 10, 2015.

The prosecution says that the two were involved in an organised and systematic criminal scheme, aimed at approaching and corrupting Prosecution witnesses through bribes and other inducements, in exchange for their withdrawal as witnesses and/or recantation of their prior statements to the Prosecution.