ICC Sets Starting Date for Kenyan Lawyer Paul Gicheru’s Trial

The trial of Kenyan attorney Paul Gicheru at the International Criminal Court (ICC) will commence on February 15th, 2022.

The trial chamber set the date following a Status Conference on September 24th, where respective submissions by both the prosecution and the defense, as well as the necessary time for the disclosure of evidence and other materials, were reviewed.

Gicheru will be committed to trial for crimes against the administration of justice consisting in corruptly influencing witnesses of the court.

“The Chamber deems it is indeed necessary for the Prosecution to file a detailed Trial Brief and that this should be done, as suggested and as is common practice, three months before the commencement of the trial.”

“In light of the Chamber’s decision to advance the start of the trial by two weeks, the deadline for filing the Prosecution Trial Brief is 15 November 2021,” The Hague-based court said in a statement on Thursday.

Trial Chamber III ordered the prosecution to file a list of all items it plans to submit as evidence no later than November 15th, 2021 while the defense team has until December 17th, 2021 to file its Trial Brief.

In July, the Pre-Trial Chamber said there are substantial grounds to believe Gicheru committed, as a co-perpetrator or under alternative modes of liability, offenses against the administration of justice.

He is said to have committed the offenses in Kenya between April 2013 and September 10th, 2015 when the criminal case against Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang was withdrawn.

The Chamber said Gicheru and his accomplices were found to have executed a well-orchestrated plan of interfering with key witnesses in the Ruto and Sang case.

“Specifically, with relation to eight witnesses, Mr. Gicheru and other members of the common plan allegedly identified, located, and contacted the witnesses, offered and/or paid them financial or other benefits, and/or threatened or intimidated them, in order to induce them to withdraw as Prosecution witnesses, refuse to or cease cooperating with the Prosecution and/or the Court, and/or to recant the evidence which they had provided to the Prosecution,” the court said.