Kenyan activist-cum-journalist, Walter Barasa has had a warrant of arrest issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for corruptly influencing or attempting to corruptly influence ICC witnesses.
“The Kenyan Government has received the warrant for the immediate arrest and transfer of Walter Barasa to the International Criminal Court to face criminal charges”, said ICC prosecutor Ms. Fatou Bensouda.
Barasa is accused of trying to bribe an ICC witness with $16 000 to recant their testimony against Deputy President William Ruto who is facing charges of murder, persecution and deportation arising from the 2007/08 post-election violence. Ms. Bensoudo describes Barasa as a close ally to the indicted. Prosecutor Bensoudo said in a statement that there is evidence that Walter Barasa tried to bribe someone he thought was a prosecution witness in the case against (Deputy President William) Mr. Ruto.
On his end, Barasa alleges that an ICC investigator in Kenya Paul Irani approached him on the 15th of September begging him to appear in the Hauge as witness against Ruto. These allegations contradicts going by the ICC’s knowledge that he is a close friend to Mr. Ruto and testifying against a friend is nearly unpractical. According to his lawyer, Kibe Mungai, Barasa refused to submit to the threats and intimidation as he held a press conference at which he unveiled his encounter with Paul Irani the ICC investigator.
“The ICC has apparently preferred charges against the petitioner in the wake of the petitioner’s refusal to co-operate with ICC’s investigators to implicate the deputy president in crimes against humanity using false testimony and fabricated evidence, which themselves are offences under the Rome Statute and the ICA, 2008,” said Mungai.
Walter is being charged under Article 70 of the Rome Statute which states that using bribes or threats to influence witnesses to change or recant their testimony is a criminal offence. If found guilty, Walter Barasa faces up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.
Barasa is a former journalist with Nation Media Group and is currently working for The People Daily which is affiliated to the Media Max group where he is profiled as a trainer of the trainers.
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