ICC witness changes testimony against DP Ruto
By Moses Ngahu
The case against Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru took a new turn after the last prosecution witness at the International Criminal Court (ICC) admitted to having given a false statements regarding the involvement of Deputy President William Ruto.
The case, which was presented to the ICC involved the participation of the Deputy President and the violence that occurred in Rift Valley after the 2007 General Election.
The defence was cross-examining the witness concerning his evidence in relation to alleged bribery of witnesses who had presented their views in the case against William Ruto and journalist, Joshua Sang.
The lawyer is accused of offences against the administration of justice by correctly influencing the views of the eight witnesses who were to testify in the case.
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File image of Lawyer Paul Gicheru. |Photo| Courtesy|[/caption]
The Defence Counsel Suzana Tomanovic was cross-examining the witness identified as P-0739, who clearly stated that among the false information he presented to the court back in 2020 and 2014 was that Ruto was the main man who was recruiting young men as well as arming them with guns.
As part of his statement to the investigators, the witness had drawn a sketch of the guns allegedly given to the young men in cartons in Ruto's house. The witness had earlier claimed that the weapons were transported to Ruto's home in a pick-up owned by a person the court identified as Person-56.
The witness admitted in court that he alone had formulated the plan to link Ruto with the transportation and arming of the youths since Person-56 was a close friend of Dr Ruto. The defence told the court that the witness had formulated a perfect lie to link the second in command to the violence. In addition, the witness had also lied to the investigators regarding the meetings held in Ruto's house with other youth leaders.
In regards to bribing the witnesses, he testified that Ruto used his personal assistant to pay off people who were compromising the witnesses. The witness told the court that the so-called personal assistant is a former worker at Moi University.
"They would first listen to the evidence given by the witness and later make a determination whether to pay the witness to recall his/her statements or ignore it. They acted as the decision-makers," the witness says.
File image of Lawyer Paul Gicheru. |Photo| Courtesy|[/caption]
The Defence Counsel Suzana Tomanovic was cross-examining the witness identified as P-0739, who clearly stated that among the false information he presented to the court back in 2020 and 2014 was that Ruto was the main man who was recruiting young men as well as arming them with guns.
As part of his statement to the investigators, the witness had drawn a sketch of the guns allegedly given to the young men in cartons in Ruto's house. The witness had earlier claimed that the weapons were transported to Ruto's home in a pick-up owned by a person the court identified as Person-56.
The witness admitted in court that he alone had formulated the plan to link Ruto with the transportation and arming of the youths since Person-56 was a close friend of Dr Ruto. The defence told the court that the witness had formulated a perfect lie to link the second in command to the violence. In addition, the witness had also lied to the investigators regarding the meetings held in Ruto's house with other youth leaders.
In regards to bribing the witnesses, he testified that Ruto used his personal assistant to pay off people who were compromising the witnesses. The witness told the court that the so-called personal assistant is a former worker at Moi University.
"They would first listen to the evidence given by the witness and later make a determination whether to pay the witness to recall his/her statements or ignore it. They acted as the decision-makers," the witness says. What's Your Reaction?
