ICC Pre-Trial Chamber A grants interim release to Paul Gicheru

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Today, 29 January 2021, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Pre-Trial Chamber A (article 70) of the International Criminal Court (ICC), granted Paul Gicheru’s request for interim release with specific conditions restricting liberty. Pre-Trial Chamber A’s decision will be implemented as soon as the ICC Registry finalises all the necessary arrangements. 

In the view of the Chamber, Mr Gicheru’s voluntary surrender demonstrates his concrete willingness to subject himself to the jurisdiction of the Court in relation to the allegations against him. The Chamber additionally noted that the Prosecutor did not oppose Mr Gicheru’s request for interim release together with conditions restricting liberty and that he is suspected of offences under article 70(1)(c) of the Rome Statute, consisting in corruptly influencing witnesses regarding cases from the situation in Kenya, which attract lower sanctions, if established. Moreover, the Chamber is of the view that the risks mentioned under article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute may be adequately mitigated by imposing conditions restricting liberty.

Conditions: The  Chamber imposed the following conditions restricting Mr Gicheru's liberty. Mr Gicheru:

shall provide financial security to the ICC Registrar in the form of cash or bank order to the value of KSH 1,000,000 (one million Kenyan shillings);shall comply fully with all orders issued in this case and surrender himself immediately to the relevant authorities if required by the Chamber;shall appear before the Chamber at the date, time, place, and in the manner ordered by the Chamber and shall remain in attendance until excused;shall not obstruct or endanger the investigation or the court proceedings and shall not engage in any activities, directly or indirectly, that are prohibited under article 70 of the Statute;shall not contact, directly or indirectly, any of the Prosecutor’s witnesses or victims in this case, except through counsel authorised to represent him before this Court and in accordance with the applicable protocols;shall not, directly or through any other person, make any public statements, social media post, or communicate with the media about the merits of the case;shall reside in Kenya at a specific address for the duration of the proceedings when not present in the Netherlands for the purposes of court proceedings, unless otherwise authorised in advance by the Chamber;shall provide the Registrar with copies of all passports, visas, identity documents, and any other travel documents issued to him; shall not travel internationally except to the extent permitted by the Chamber and shall inform the Registrar or his delegate, no later than seven days prior to any international travel;shall report once a week to the Registrar, his delegate, or other person(s) on the date and time and in the manner to be determined by the Registrar, which may include the use of video conferencing technology; andshall provide the Registrar with all mobile and other telephone numbers and shall ensure that at least one of his mobile telephone numbers remains active and with sufficient credit to be reachable at any time.

The Chamber found that, in the event that Mr Gicheru would fail to comply with any of the conditions restricting liberty specified in its decision, the Chamber may declare the financial security provided by Mr Gicheru forfeit to the Court, issue a warrant of arrest in respect of Mr Gicheru at the request of the Prosecutor or on its own initiative, and/or issue any other order it deems relevant in relation to a failure to comply with these conditions.

Background: On 9 November 2020, the Chamber received Mr Gicheru’s Request for Interim Release under the Provisions of Article 60(2) of the Rome Statute.

The arrest warrant against Mr Gicheru and Philip Kipkoech Bett was issued under seal on 10 March 2015 and unsealed on 10 September 2015 for offences against the administration of justice consisting in corruptly influencing witnesses of the Court. The first appearance of Paul Gicheru before the Court took place 6 November 2020. The confirmation of charges procedure will, in principle, be conducted in writing to determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence to conduct subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial.

Casssien Tribunal Aungane, Editor

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