Kenyan lawyer facing bribery charge at ICC found dead
Paul Gicheru was found unconscious by his family at his home
A Kenyan lawyer facing trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for bribing and threatening a prosecution witness in a past ICC case involving President William Ruto six years ago was found dead, local media reported on Tuesday.
According to police, 50-year-old Paul Gicheru was found unconscious by his family at his home on Monday night,
“The body was found lying on the back, clean, casually dressed and no saliva or blood on anybody opening,” a police report said, according to AP news agency.
It further noted that “the deceased is a known diabetic and high blood pressure patient.”
Gicheru was first found by his 20-year-old son, who then told his mother that his 50-year-old father “had taken something”.
The police report noted a “froth” coming from his mouth and concluded that he had difficulty in breathing.
The police are yet to find the cause of his death.
Family lawyer John Khaminwa told the reporters that Gicheru was stressed in the hours before his death.
“He was not himself,” Khaminwa said, citing Gicheru's family members.
In February, Gicheru was facing charges to all eight counts of interfering with witnesses in the case against William Ruto, who had been charged with fomenting ethnic violence after Kenya’s 2007electionthat left more than 1,000 people dead. He had denied bribing prosecution witnesses in the case.
Responding to the news of his death, ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said, “If there is information about the death of an accused, a confirmation of this information should be submitted to the (trial) chamber and then the chamber issues a decision ending the case.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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