THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Kenyan lawyer wanted by International Criminal Court prosecutors for allegedly bribing witnesses has surrendered to authorities in the Netherlands, the court announced Monday.
Prosecutors allege that Paul Gicheru and another lawyer, Philip Kipkoech Bett, corruptly influenced six witnesses in their investigations into deadly violence that erupted after Kenya's 2007 elections. Bett isn't in custody.
A judge who signed off on their arrest warrant in 2015 said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Gicheru was a manager and coordinator of a scheme to offer bribes and other inducements to prosecution witnesses in return for withdrawing their statements.
The court said it has submitted a request to Dutch authorities to hand Gicheru over to the ICC.
ICC prosecutors filed charges against a string of suspects over alleged involvement in Kenya's post-election violence. All the cases ultimately fell through and none of the suspects were convicted. Among them were Uhuru Kenyatta, who is now Kenya's president. Kenyatta always maintained his innocence.
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda dropped charges against him in December 2014, saying she didn't have enough evidence to take the case to trial.
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