Net closing on Kenyan ICC suspects

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is calling for the arrest of three Kenyans suspected of witness tampering. Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said lawyers Paul Gicheru and Phillip Bett and journalist Walter Barasa, who remain at large, are wanted by her office. The Kenyan High Court last year blocked their extradition to The Hague, but Bensouda said the ICC ‘relies on state cooperation worldwide to arrest and transfer (suspects)’. The Daily Nation reports that the lawyers are accused of influencing six witnesses while Barasa allegedly attempted to bribe someone he thought was a witness in the case against Deputy President William Ruto. ‘The case remains at the pre-trial stage, pending the suspect's arrest or voluntary appearance before the Court. The ICC does not try individuals in their absence,’ the court said on its website. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Bensouda has been relentlessly but quietly piecing together fresh information on the carnage which left more than 1 300 people dead and thousands of others displaced. The latest ICC annual report submitted to the UN General Assembly reveals that Bensouda continues to receive information related to the matter.