The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has asked relevant authorities led by Inspector General of Police to ensure speedy investigations into the sudden death of lawyer Paul Gicheru.
In a detailed statement, LSK said the investigations will help to determine what exactly caused the lawyer’s death.
“We have been informed that the police visited the home and urge the Inspector General of the National Police Service to ensure that speedy and thorough investigations are conducted into the cause of his death,” LSK said.
The society went on to say that because Gicheru was a suspect at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and because several witnesses in ICC cases involving Kenyan leaders have either disappeared or died, there is a need for answers about his untimely death.
LSK further confirmed that Gicheru’s son, who was in the house with his father when his body was discovered, is in critical condition and has been admitted to the hospital.
“We have also learnt that the son of the late Gicheru who was in the same house with his father at time of his death, was admitted to hospital in critical condition, and we wish him a full and speedy recovery,” the statement further read.
Lawyer Gicheru who until his untimely death was a witness at the International Criminal Court (ICC) was found dead in his Karen residence in Nairobi.
He allegedly collapsed and died with police launching investigations into the matter and the cause of his death. Date for an autopsy examination yet to be set.
Gicheru surrendered to Hague authorities in November 2020 after evading an arrest warrant issued back in March 2015.
The lawyer was accused of bribing and intimidating witnesses in the failed International Criminal Court (ICC) case against President William Ruto.
ICC judges ruled in 2016 that Ruto had no case to answer, noting that the case had been hampered by political interference and threats against witnesses.
The case has since been terminated about a year after a similar suit against President Uhuru Kenyatta was discontinued in March 2015.
In his submissions, Gicheru asked the court to dismiss the case against him, while the prosecution has called for a guilty verdict on all 8 counts that the lawyer faces.
However, the prosecution argued that arguments by the defence had no merit and should not have a bearing on the outcome of the case, calling on the chamber to find Gicheru guilty.
Other Kenyans who faced charges of crimes against humanity at the ICC alongside Kenyatta and Ruto is Sang, Kosgei, Francis Muthaura and police chief Mohammed Ali.