Lawyer Paul Gicheru may not be released and could remain in detention for the entire period of his trial.
Paul Gicheru is hoping to secure a conditional release from his detention by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands after Kenya said it will not cooperate with the court on the matter.
In the letter addressed to presiding judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, the AG stated that Gicheru contravened the International Crimes Act that required him to notify the High Court in Nairobi about his intention to turn himself in.
“Given the foregoing, and by dint of the existing High Court order as mentioned hereinabove, Kenya observes that it may not, at this point in time, be able to accord the court the assistance contemplated in Rule 119(1) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence, unless the said order is lifted or otherwise varied,” said the AG.
The AG further said that there is still a chance for Mr Gicheru to notify the High Court so that the freeze on the arrest warrant could be varied or lifted, which would make the government review its current position.
The import of the AG’s letter is that Paul Gicheru may not be conditionally released and could remain in detention for the entire period of his trial unless another country agrees to accommodate him and comply with the ICC’s conditions for interim release.
The conditions of the ICC include barring Gicheru from travelling abroad without the explicit agreement of the Chamber, visiting certain places or associate with certain persons as specified by the Pre-Trial Chamber, contacting victims or witnesses directly or indirectly, engaging in certain professional activities, ensuring he resides at a particular address as specified by the Chamber, and honoring summons by an authority or a qualified person designated by the Chamber.
“In this regard, the Chamber specifically requests Kenya to provide observations as to its willingness and ability to facilitate the possibility of Gicheru travelling between Kenya and the Netherlands for the purposes of the proceedings in the present case,” the presiding judge requested.
The ICC had issued an arrest warrant for Paul Gicheru for allegedly influencing witnesses in the court. The witnesses were to testify in a post-election violence case that claimed over 1,000 lives.
By Christabel Airo