ICC orders the arrest of Kenyan Journalist

Sasa tuone kama serikali ya Jubilee itamshika huyu mwandishi na kumpeleke Hague....ndo tutajua huu
upepo utalekea wapi.

=============================================================================================

ICC seeks Walter Barasa's arrest for Kenya 'witness tampering.




ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants Walter Barasa immediately transferred to The Hague

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for a Kenyan journalist suspected of offering bribes to prosecution witnesses in the trial of Deputy President William Ruto.


There were reasonable grounds to believe that Walter Osapiri Barasa was "corruptly influencing" or trying to influence witnesses, a judge ruled.



This is the first time the ICC has issued such an arrest warrant.
Mr Barasa, 41, told the BBC he was ready to prove his innocence.
He told the Reuters news agency that police had so far not tried to detain him.


"I have not gotten in touch with any witnesses or anybody having any intention of asking them or bribing them to pull out of the case," he said, Reuters reports.


Mr Barasa is a former employee of People newspaper in Eldoret, the home town of Mr Ruto in north-west Kenya.


The newspaper was recently bought by Mediamax Network Ltd. President Uhuru Kenyatta's family is the company's main shareholder. Mediamax Network said it no longer employed Mr Barasa, AFP news agency reports.



Mr Ruto is on trial for alleged crimes against humanity and his case resumed at The Hague on Wednesday morning. He denies the charges, which stem from allegations that he orchestrated violence after disputed elections in 2007. President Kenyatta is due to stand trial on similar charges in November. He, too, denies the allegations.


'Sabotage'

Mr Barasa was allegedly "acting in furtherance of a criminal scheme devised by a circle of officials within the Kenyan administration", the ICC said in a statement.


In March, the ICC dropped charges against Kenya's former civil service head Francis Muthaura, a co-accused of Mr Kenyatta. Some witnesses were too scared to testify and another witness had recanted his testimony, the ICC said at the time.


In court papers, prosecutors said Mr Barasa had offered bribes amounting to $16,200 (£10,000).


Judge Cuno Tarfusser ruled that Mr Barasa should be arrested and tried to ensure that he did not "endanger the investigation or the proceedings, and to prevent him from continuing with the commission of the crime", the ICC said.


Kenya's Attorney-General Githu Muigai said the warrant would come under "judicial consideration" before it was enforced.


"During the judicial consideration of the legality of the warrant, the subject [Mr Barasa] is entitled to make representations to the court," he added.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called on Kenya to immediately arrest and transfer Mr Barasa to The Hague. There was "compelling evidence" that he tried to bribe someone he thought was a witness in Mr Ruto's trial, she said. Mr Barasa was part of a network trying to "sabotage" the case, Ms Bensouda alleged.


The arrest warrant was issued in August but made public only on Wednesday, partly to act as a warning to others that they could not get away with interfering with witnesses, reports the BBC's Anna Holligan from The Hague.


If found guilty Mr Barasa could face up to five years in jail.
Mr Barasa's lawyer Nick Kaufman told Reuters it was surprising that the warrant had been unsealed before Mr Ruto's lawyers cross-examined witnesses. He said it risked creating the impression that it was aimed at influencing the trial's progress, Reuters reports.


At Mr Ruto's trial, the first witness, an alleged survivor of an attack on a church, continued giving evidence. The court was in closed session, with extra protection for the female witness after unprecedented attempts to expose her identity, our correspondent says.

She is said to have survived the attack on the Kiambaa Church in Kenya's Rift Valley region after the December 2007 election, marred by allegations of widespread rigging.


About 36 people were burnt to death in the attack, blamed on supporters of Mr Ruto. The trial resumed on Wednesday after it was adjourned last week to allow Mr Ruto to return to Kenya to deal with the 21 September attack on the Westgate shopping centre in the capital, Nairobi.


The Somali Islamist group, al-Shabab, said it carried out the four-day siege, which left 67 people dead while a further 39 are still missing.
Radio executive Joshua arap Sang is standing trial alongside Mr Ruto, accused of whipping up ethnic hatred in the aftermath of the election.
He has pleaded not guilty.



Some 1,200 people died and 600,000 were forced from their homes during the conflict.


Mr Ruto is the first senior government official to be tried by the ICC.
He and Mr Kenyatta were on opposite sides in the 2007 election, but formed an alliance to win power in elections in March this year.
They said their alliance showed that Kenyans had resolved their differences, and the ICC was meddling in the country's affairs by pressing ahead with their trials.

BBC News - ICC seeks Walter Barasa arrest for Kenya 'witness tampering'

ICC-CPI-20131002-PR948


Situation: The Republic of Kenya

Case: The Prosecutor v. Walter Osapiri Barasa



Today, 2 October 2013, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed an arrest warrant against Walter Osapiri Barasa, Kenyan citizen, born in 1972. He is charged with several offences against the administration of justice including corruptly influencing or attempting to corruptly influence ICC witnesses. An under seal warrant of arrest was issued against him on 2 August 2013.

This is the first case before the ICC where a suspect is charged with an offence against the administration of justice, in accordance with article 70 of the Rome Statute.


Judge Cuno Tarfusser, Single Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber II, considered that the evidence presented by the Prosecutor established reasonable grounds to believe that Walter Barasa is criminally responsible as direct perpetrator for the crime of corruptly influencing or, alternatively, attempting to corruptly influence witnesses by offering to pay them to withdraw as ICC Prosecution witnesses in the context of the Kenyan cases before the ICC. Allegedly, he has been and is still acting in furtherance of a criminal scheme devised by a circle of officials within the Kenyan administration.


Based on the Prosecutor's evidence, Judge Tarfusser also found that it is necessary to arrest Walter Osapiri Barasa to ensure his appearance at trial, to ensure that he does not obstruct or endanger the investigation or the proceedings, and to prevent him from continuing with the commission of the crime.


The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.


http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pages/pr948.aspx
--------------------------------------
The prosecutor accuses Mr Barasa, a journalist based in Eldoret, of attempting to bribe three witnesses including witness 536.



Witness 536 is the survivor of the Kiambaa church arson attack and is presently testifying in the case facing Mr Ruto and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang at The Hague.

She is giving her testimony in private sessions after attempts to expose her identity and intimidate her family.



Ms Bensouda says Mr Barasa offered "to pay her and her husband a total of one million four hundred thousand Kenyan Shillings (KES 1,400,000) in order to influence her to withdraw as a Prosecution witness, committed during the period 20 May to 25 July 2013 and at or near Kampala, Uganda".


He also attempted to corruptly influence witnesses 256 and 336, Ms Bensouda charges.


Ms Bensouda said it was her expectation that Kenya would arrest and hand over Mr Barasa for prosecution.
--------------------------------

[h=1]Profile[/h] Journalist, Trainer of Trainers
Mediamax Group, Media Centre for Development

Currently holds this position
[h=3]News Correspondent[/h] [h=4] Bold Nation Media Group LLC [/h]
Public Company; 1-10 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry
April 1995 – December 2001 (6 years 9 months)

[h=3]Teacher[/h] [h=4] Vocational schools, primary schools etc. [/h] Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Education Management industry
January 1992 – December 1993 (2 years)

Enforcing ICC warrant of arrest against Walter Barasa subject to Kenya Judicial Process




Updated Wednesday, October 2nd 2013 at 19:03 GMT +3

By Standard Digital Reporter

Attorney General (AG) Githu Muigai has said the procedure for enforcing any warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against any individual in Kenya is subject to clear procedure set out under the International Crimes Act 2010.

This comes after the ICC requested the Kenyan government to immediately arrest Walter Barasa and hand him over to the court for allegedly tampering with witnesses on the underway case facing Deputy President William Ruto.

"The procedure for enforcing any warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against any individual in Kenya is subject to the very clear procedure set out under the International Crimes Act 2010," said the AG.

According to the AG, procedures require the minister in charge of the interior upon receiving a formal warrant of arrest, he should present it to the judiciary for enforcement.

" During the judicial consideration of the legality of the warrant, the subject is entitled to make representations to the court. The final determination on the enforce-ability of the warrant is therefore a judicial one." added Githu.

The Hague-based court issued a warrant of arrest against Barasa on Wednesday after ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda accused him of interfering with prosecution witnesses.

"There is evidence to suggest that Walter Barasa tried to bribe someone he thought was a prosecution witness in the case against Deputy President William Ruto," Bensouda said.

The prosecution added that they have conducted a comprehensive investigation on the basis of documented allegations of witness interference.

"The evidence collected so far indicates that there is a network of people who are trying to sabotage the case against Mr Ruto by interfering with Prosecution witnesses. Walter Barasa, against whom compelling evidence has been collected, has been part of this network, and his actions fit into this wider scheme that the Office continues to investigate," read part of the statement sent.

Standard Digital News - Kenya : Enforcing of ICC warrant of arrest against Walter Baraza subject to Kenyan judicial process, says AG Muigai

Mashtaka: http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc...uments/pr948/ICC-0109-0113-1-Red2-Reclass.pdf

Mahakama ya kimataifa ya makosa ya jinai ICC iliyopo The Hague,imetoa hati ya kukamatwa kwa mwandishi wa habari wa Kenya Walter O Barasa la kurubuni kushawishi nakutaka kuwaonga mashahidi hili wasitoe ushahidi dhidi ya makamu wa rais William Ruto katika kesi inayomkabili.

Inasemekana Barasa aliwarubuni mashahidi namba 536,336 na 256 kwa kuahidi kuwapa kitita cha milioni 1.4 hadi milioni 2.6 hela za Kenya endapo wangekubali kutotoa ushahidi dhidi ya Ruto. Kumekuwepo na wimbi la mashahidi kujitoa katika kesi hii ya aina yake, aidha kwa kutishiwa maisha yao au kurubuniwa kwa fedha na vitu mbalimbali.

Haijulikani iwapo serikali ya Kenya ambayo imekuwa kwenye mgogoro mkali na mahakama hiyo kiasi cha kutaka kujiondoa kwenye uanachama wa mahakama hiyo,itaheshimu hati hiyo na kumsalimisha Basara hili sheria ichukue mkondo wake.

Kama Basara atapelekwa kwenye mahakama hiyo nakupatikana na hatia anakabiliwa na kifungo cha miaka mitano.

Pata taarifa kamili hapo kwenye link

Arrest warrant out for journalist over ICC cases - News - nation.co.ke
Details of warrant against Walter Barasa - News - nation.co.ke

Impunity!

nawaoooooo! this pipo should leave kenya alone now arrrrgggghhhh! biko! enough is enough!

Wht is behind this matter,kenya needs to have peace over their executive leaders,the ICC is doing its job by political influence from the metropolitians,it is the tym now we africans to unite and say no to these whites

Ab-Titchaz said:

​

Click to expand...

Ha ha ha,,what is going wrong,,,,are these,,not,,side shows?????????

This confused prosecutor,,,instead of going,,straight into her 'strong'
evidence against the accused,, she is now introducing other things
so as to complicate matters, blaming others for her own short
comings.

She,,initially wanted to lock horns with Ruto,,on that subject
of his,,Ruto's,,presence in the court,,but now that because
the deputy president is there and nothing else to argue
about,,she now want some,,Barasas arrested and handed
over,,,,,, to the ICC.

This is a very tall order,,and she knows this,,,but,, she wants
to buy time,,,looking for excuses.

Life would have been very easier for her,,if Ruto and Uhuru
did declare their refusal of cooperation with the ICC.

Her predecessor,,,mr Ocampo,, did declare that he was going
to make Kenya an example,,for the others,,,but we are asking,,,

What is happening??????

They must show their work,,,,,they have been saying so much,,
it is,,pay time.

And,,they should not expect Kenya,, to help them,,put a
rope around Kenya's neck,,,

I thought that ICC was that strong,,that it could arrest anybody
it wanted,,in the world,,except US and other big,,bros.

Now it is asking Kenya,,,the same country they accuse of
not cooperating with ICC,,to arrest Barasa and,,hand him
to them.

What a,,,funny world.

Be serious,,,,,Mrs,miss Ben-Sodas.:smile-big:

Jammu Africa said:

Ha ha ha,,what is going wrong,,,,are these,,not,,side shows?????????

This confused prosecutor,,, ...What a,,,funny world.

Be serious,,,,,Mrs,miss Ben-Sodas.:smile-big:

Click to expand...

Wewe endelea tu kumtania Fatuou Bensouda. Lakini siku mama Fatou atakapomnyonga Ruto ndipo hapo utaanza kulia na kusaga meno. Shauri yako!

Look at,,this Ben-sodas or,,whatever,,,she is worse than the
colonizers,,, she works for.

What about,,herself,,listen to her talking about impunity and
the rule of law.

She comes from Gambia,,,where the president,,Yahya Jamme
just announced the removal of Gambia from the common wealth
saying that the organization is all about,,,, Neo-Colonialism.

I support,,Yahya Jamme,,on this.

In her country,,the place she comes from,,,there are all kind of
human beings,,in detentions,,whereas in Kenya,,,we have had none
of this for more than twenty years.

People get executed through firing squads,,in Gambia,,as it happened
just,,,last years.

When did that happened in Kenya??????

So the Kenyan society is far and much ahead of the
country she comes from.

She comes from a very backward country but she
wants to shows us some example for others to see:yuck:

Why not start with her own country first.

Shame on her. She is not a good example or is she
only an,,employee working for the,,,masters?????

[h=5]Wankuru Stephen Mwita.[/h]16 hours ago near Nairobi, Kenya



SUMMARY OF WALTER BARASA's STATEMENT

1. Between 1st and 5th December 2012 I was called by somebody who introduced himself to me as an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigator.

2. He introduced himself as PAUL IRANI. He informed me that he had been given my name and phone number by somebody who was known to me.

3. He further informed me that he was an ICC investigator and wanted to meet him in Nairobi.

4. He told me to hire a taxi from Eldoret to Nairobi and that he would pay for the taxi once I arrived in Nairobi because the matter he wanted us to discuss was urgent. He paid Ksh 30,000 to the taxi owner upon arrival in Nairobi.

5. We met at the WESTGATE. He was with another investigator called ULE. He told me that he wanted me to help them in connection with a lady in Kiambaa and that she was a witness in a case which was earlier conducted in Nakuru.

6. He told me I was a good man and that I should get the lady to confirm what she had told him on phone because he could not travel to Eldoret which he was told was hostile.

7. He bought a cellphone for me with an Airtel line to take to the lady. I went and met the lady who confirmed that she had talked with Paul Irani.

8. I later confirmed to Irani that I had met the lady. He requested me to get the lady a temporary passport to enable her go to Uganda for interrogation and statement recording.

9. When the lady came back she told me that she had been a worker at a certain politicians home and that the investigators had told her to say that she was a cook and that she seen planning meetings being held at the politicians home and had cooked for youths and served them with food as they planned to attack the Kiambaa church.

10. I asked her whether that was actually true but she told me that it was not true because during the time she was employed by the politician she was actually working as a casual labourer planting tree seedlings and sometimes used to harvest maize.

11. She also told me that she had left that employment five years before but that she had been forced to say that she was cooking and serving food during the period the violence occurred.

12. I encouraged her to confirm to whether she was ready to defend that position.

13. I asked her how as a Kikuyu she could be allowed to get into a planning meeting and cook and serve food to people who were going to kill her relatives.

14. She told me that she had been told to say that so that the case would be strong.

15. I warned her that she faced the risk of prosecution if it turned out that she was lying.

16. We ended our conversation and she told me that Paul had sent her to tell me to get her a passport.

17. The investigators sent her a total of Ksh 45,500 and a sum of Ksh 6,000 for facilitation making a total of Ksh 51,500 which the lady (536) withdrew and gave me.

17. We got the passports and she and her family crossed over to Uganda. We cut off communication for some time until I received a call from the lady using a Ugandan number.

18. She told me that her children were not going to school and that life had become very difficult contrary to what she was promised and her husband was very bitter and wanted them to come back to the country.

19. She told me she did not want to continue with the case and wanted to come back.

20. I later met PAUL IRANI at TOPELLI restaurant near Nairobi hospital and informed him about the ladies complaints and warned him that the lady had threatened to abandon the cause.

21. He promised to address the issue. The lady stopped calling me for some time until a time when she called me on a Burundian number.

22. That is when I learnt that she had been moved to Burundi. She was still complaining of poor treatment.

23. She insisted that since I was the one she knew I should assist her get out of Burundi because she did not have money to get her back in the country.

24. Communication between us went off again and then a week later she called me from a phone whose code was +423 which is the code for DR Congo with the same complaint.

25. She repeated the same thing that she was fed up and wanted me to assist her and her family back.

26. I told her I did not have money but if I get money I could assist her but in the event that I could not manage she had a right to protest, disclose the truth and ask whoever was in charge to return her into the country.

27. The calls were so many but when I refused to pick she wrote me numerous text messages which I wish to give you where she was stating the same thing.

28. I wish to read you some of the messages. During the course of my acquaintance with Paul Irani I started developing great doubts on the competence of the Office of the Prosecutors (OTP) investigations.

29. At one meeting I challenged PAUL and one SILVANO from Burkina Faso if they would be able to succeed in establishing the truth when they were carrying out armchair investigations in a hotel on the basis of information from people who were known gold diggers roaming the streets of Eldoret after he showed me a list of the names he had lined up as his sources of information and investigation.

30. I also reminded him that witness 536 had confided in me she was not in the employment of the politician she was alleging she was working for at the time and she had not been a cook.

31. I told him that the same case had been dismissed by the court in Nakuru. He dismissed my concerns and told me to leave him alone.

32. He tried sending me to find other individuals whose names he gave me. I contacted some of them. I met some of them but I told him that those people were unreliable.

33. He flew back sometime in February or March this year then on 13th SEPT this year he contacted me on phone and via email asking me to meet him urgently because my life was in danger and he wanted me to leave the country immediately.

34. He suggested that he meets me at The Hague, Uganda or Nairobi as the last option.

35. I agreed to go to Nairobi on 15th September 2013 for the meeting. The email he wrote to me is attached and I wish to read parts of it.

36. I met him with another white man at TOPELLI restaurant. I expected a cordial meeting but when I arrived at the meeting PAUL IRANI ordered me to dismantle all my phones. I accepted to do so after quarrelling for over 10 minutes.

37. He told me that he knew that I had been working with RUTO to coerce and compromise witnesses and that I should cooperate with him and the prosecution and accept to implicate the RUTO after which we would fly out of the country with him that night because my life was in danger.

38. Alternatively he was going to engineer and have a warrant of arrest be issued against me and that I could be jailed for five years.

39. But that as a friend he did not want to be jailed and that the best option was for me to implicate RUTO

40. I was greatly infuriated by these suggestions. I told him that I did not remember the last time I met RUTO and I told him if I ever met and spoke with Ruto it was way back in 2007 but from then and up to the time I was meeting him I had not met him but he retorted that I had met him after he came from Japan.

41. I told him that those were lies, I could not accept those lies and that he should go ahead and cause the warrants to be issued.

42. I told him that I was ready to stand in any court to refute those lies.
He told me that I was becoming difficult and he was going to arrest me right away.

43. I told him to dare arrest me. I rose from my chair picked my bag and went to the washrooms but when I came out the two called me back.

44. I was extremely fearful and in order to get away from them, I told them that I would get back to them. They gave me Ksh 7,200 for accommodation and transport.

45.They suggested that after I had considered he options I should escape with them to Uganda. I never contacted them again.

46. A warrant of arrest has been issued against me over an alleged interference/prevention of witness number 536 from attending court.

47. Am ready and prepared to defend myself against these allegations, which are false.

48. I have a SPECIAL knowledge of all the investigators MACHINATIONS relating to the recruitment of this witness 536 and others and I will not be blackmailed to tell lies.

49. I am aware of the activities of the investigators and what they are doing now and have done in the past.

50. I respect the court, I respect the rights of the accused persons to a fair hearing, and the victims right to get justice but I do not accept coercion and unorthodox means of implicating accused persons and conducting investigations to attain an unjust end.

52. I wish to inform you that the conversation of 15th September 2013 was recorded by Irani and I challenge him to produce the entire unedited clip to the court and all concerned.

53. I also recorded parts of the proceedings which I am ready to produce to prove what I am saying.

54. I have already instructed my advocate Mr Nick Kaufmann to appear for me and bring the above matters to the attention of the court. I attach here to a letter from my advocate.

By Wankuru Stephen Mwita.
[h=5] Nairobi, Kenya[/h]
SUMMARY OF WALTER BARASA's STATEMENT

1. Between 1st and 5th December 2012 I was called by somebody who introduced himself to me as an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigator.

2. He introduced himself as PAUL IRANI. He informed me that he had been given my name and phone number by somebody who was known to me.

3. He further informed me that he was an ICC investigator and wanted to meet him in Nairobi.

4. He told me to hire a taxi from Eldoret to Nairobi and that he would pay for the taxi once I arrived in Nairobi because the matter he wanted us to discuss was urgent. He paid Ksh 30,000 to the taxi owner upon arrival in Nairobi.

5. We met at the WESTGATE. He was with another investigator called ULE. He told me that he wanted me to help them in connection with a lady in Kiambaa and that she was a witness in a case which was earlier conducted in Nakuru.

6. He told me I was a good man and that I should get the lady to confirm what she had told him on phone because he could not travel to Eldoret which he was told was hostile.

7. He bought a cellphone for me with an Airtel line to take to the lady. I went and met the lady who confirmed that she had talked with Paul Irani.

8. I later confirmed to Irani that I had met the lady. He requested me to get the lady a temporary passport to enable her go to Uganda for interrogation and statement recording.

9. When the lady came back she told me that she had been a worker at a certain politicians home and that the investigators had told her to say that she was a cook and that she seen planning meetings being held at the politicians home and had cooked for youths and served them with food as they planned to attack the Kiambaa church.

10. I asked her whether that was actually true but she told me that it was not true because during the time she was employed by the politician she was actually working as a casual labourer planting tree seedlings and sometimes used to harvest maize.

11. She also told me that she had left that employment five years before but that she had been forced to say that she was cooking and serving food during the period the violence occurred.

12. I encouraged her to confirm to whether she was ready to defend that position.

13. I asked her how as a Kikuyu she could be allowed to get into a planning meeting and cook and serve food to people who were going to kill her relatives.

14. She told me that she had been told to say that so that the case would be strong.

15. I warned her that she faced the risk of prosecution if it turned out that she was lying.

16. We ended our conversation and she told me that Paul had sent her to tell me to get her a passport.

17. The investigators sent her a total of Ksh 45,500 and a sum of Ksh 6,000 for facilitation making a total of Ksh 51,500 which the lady (536) withdrew and gave me.

17. We got the passports and she and her family crossed over to Uganda. We cut off communication for some time until I received a call from the lady using a Ugandan number.

18. She told me that her children were not going to school and that life had become very difficult contrary to what she was promised and her husband was very bitter and wanted them to come back to the country.

19. She told me she did not want to continue with the case and wanted to come back.

20. I later met PAUL IRANI at TOPELLI restaurant near Nairobi hospital and informed him about the ladies complaints and warned him that the lady had threatened to abandon the cause.

21. He promised to address the issue. The lady stopped calling me for some time until a time when she called me on a Burundian number.

22. That is when I learnt that she had been moved to Burundi. She was still complaining of poor treatment.

23. She insisted that since I was the one she knew I should assist her get out of Burundi because she did not have money to get her back in the country.

24. Communication between us went off again and then a week later she called me from a phone whose code was +423 which is the code for DR Congo with the same complaint.

25. She repeated the same thing that she was fed up and wanted me to assist her and her family back.

26. I told her I did not have money but if I get money I could assist her but in the event that I could not manage she had a right to protest, disclose the truth and ask whoever was in charge to return her into the country.

27. The calls were so many but when I refused to pick she wrote me numerous text messages which I wish to give you where she was stating the same thing.

28. I wish to read you some of the messages. During the course of my acquaintance with Paul Irani I started developing great doubts on the competence of the Office of the Prosecutors (OTP) investigations.

29. At one meeting I challenged PAUL and one SILVANO from Burkina Faso if they would be able to succeed in establishing the truth when they were carrying out armchair investigations in a hotel on the basis of information from people who were known gold diggers roaming the streets of Eldoret after he showed me a list of the names he had lined up as his sources of information and investigation.

30. I also reminded him that witness 536 had confided in me she was not in the employment of the politician she was alleging she was working for at the time and she had not been a cook.

31. I told him that the same case had been dismissed by the court in Nakuru. He dismissed my concerns and told me to leave him alone.

32. He tried sending me to find other individuals whose names he gave me. I contacted some of them. I met some of them but I told him that those people were unreliable.

33. He flew back sometime in February or March this year then on 13th SEPT this year he contacted me on phone and via email asking me to meet him urgently because my life was in danger and he wanted me to leave the country immediately.

34. He suggested that he meets me at The Hague, Uganda or Nairobi as the last option.

35. I agreed to go to Nairobi on 15th September 2013 for the meeting. The email he wrote to me is attached and I wish to read parts of it.

36. I met him with another white man at TOPELLI restaurant. I expected a cordial meeting but when I arrived at the meeting PAUL IRANI ordered me to dismantle all my phones. I accepted to do so after quarrelling for over 10 minutes.

37. He told me that he knew that I had been working with RUTO to coerce and compromise witnesses and that I should cooperate with him and the prosecution and accept to implicate the RUTO after which we would fly out of the country with him that night because my life was in danger.

38. Alternatively he was going to engineer and have a warrant of arrest be issued against me and that I could be jailed for five years.

39. But that as a friend he did not want to be jailed and that the best option was for me to implicate RUTO

40. I was greatly infuriated by these suggestions. I told him that I did not remember the last time I met RUTO and I told him if I ever met and spoke with Ruto it was way back in 2007 but from then and up to the time I was meeting him I had not met him but he retorted that I had met him after he came from Japan.

41. I told him that those were lies, I could not accept those lies and that he should go ahead and cause the warrants to be issued.

42. I told him that I was ready to stand in any court to refute those lies.
He told me that I was becoming difficult and he was going to arrest me right away.

43. I told him to dare arrest me. I rose from my chair picked my bag and went to the washrooms but when I came out the two called me back.

44. I was extremely fearful and in order to get away from them, I told them that I would get back to them. They gave me Ksh 7,200 for accommodation and transport.

45.They suggested that after I had considered he options I should escape with them to Uganda. I never contacted them again.

46. A warrant of arrest has been issued against me over an alleged interference/prevention of witness number 536 from attending court.

47. Am ready and prepared to defend myself against these allegations, which are false.

48. I have a SPECIAL knowledge of all the investigators MACHINATIONS relating to the recruitment of this witness 536 and others and I will not be blackmailed to tell lies.

49. I am aware of the activities of the investigators and what they are doing now and have done in the past.

50. I respect the court, I respect the rights of the accused persons to a fair hearing, and the victims right to get justice but I do not accept coercion and unorthodox means of implicating accused persons and conducting investigations to attain an unjust end.

52. I wish to inform you that the conversation of 15th September 2013 was recorded by Irani and I challenge him to produce the entire unedited clip to the court and all concerned.

53. I also recorded parts of the proceedings which I am ready to produce to prove what I am saying.

54. I have already instructed my advocate Mr Nick Kaufmann to appear for me and bring the above matters to the attention of the court. I attach here to a letter from my advocate.

Ab-Titchaz said:

Sasa tuone kama serikali ya Jubilee itamshika huyu mwandishi na kumpeleke Hague....ndo tutajua huu
upepo utalekea wapi.

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ICC seeks Walter Barasa's arrest for Kenya 'witness tampering.




ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants Walter Barasa immediately transferred to The Hague

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for a Kenyan journalist suspected of offering bribes to prosecution witnesses in the trial of Deputy President William Ruto.


There were reasonable grounds to believe that Walter Osapiri Barasa was "corruptly influencing" or trying to influence witnesses, a judge ruled.



This is the first time the ICC has issued such an arrest warrant.
Mr Barasa, 41, told the BBC he was ready to prove his innocence.
He told the Reuters news agency that police had so far not tried to detain him.


"I have not gotten in touch with any witnesses or anybody having any intention of asking them or bribing them to pull out of the case," he said, Reuters reports.


Mr Barasa is a former employee of People newspaper in Eldoret, the home town of Mr Ruto in north-west Kenya.


The newspaper was recently bought by Mediamax Network Ltd. President Uhuru Kenyatta's family is the company's main shareholder. Mediamax Network said it no longer employed Mr Barasa, AFP news agency reports.



Mr Ruto is on trial for alleged crimes against humanity and his case resumed at The Hague on Wednesday morning. He denies the charges, which stem from allegations that he orchestrated violence after disputed elections in 2007. President Kenyatta is due to stand trial on similar charges in November. He, too, denies the allegations.


'Sabotage'

Mr Barasa was allegedly "acting in furtherance of a criminal scheme devised by a circle of officials within the Kenyan administration", the ICC said in a statement.


In March, the ICC dropped charges against Kenya's former civil service head Francis Muthaura, a co-accused of Mr Kenyatta. Some witnesses were too scared to testify and another witness had recanted his testimony, the ICC said at the time.


In court papers, prosecutors said Mr Barasa had offered bribes amounting to $16,200 (£10,000).


Judge Cuno Tarfusser ruled that Mr Barasa should be arrested and tried to ensure that he did not "endanger the investigation or the proceedings, and to prevent him from continuing with the commission of the crime", the ICC said.


Kenya's Attorney-General Githu Muigai said the warrant would come under "judicial consideration" before it was enforced.


"During the judicial consideration of the legality of the warrant, the subject [Mr Barasa] is entitled to make representations to the court," he added.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called on Kenya to immediately arrest and transfer Mr Barasa to The Hague. There was "compelling evidence" that he tried to bribe someone he thought was a witness in Mr Ruto's trial, she said. Mr Barasa was part of a network trying to "sabotage" the case, Ms Bensouda alleged.


The arrest warrant was issued in August but made public only on Wednesday, partly to act as a warning to others that they could not get away with interfering with witnesses, reports the BBC's Anna Holligan from The Hague.


If found guilty Mr Barasa could face up to five years in jail.
Mr Barasa's lawyer Nick Kaufman told Reuters it was surprising that the warrant had been unsealed before Mr Ruto's lawyers cross-examined witnesses. He said it risked creating the impression that it was aimed at influencing the trial's progress, Reuters reports.


At Mr Ruto's trial, the first witness, an alleged survivor of an attack on a church, continued giving evidence. The court was in closed session, with extra protection for the female witness after unprecedented attempts to expose her identity, our correspondent says.

She is said to have survived the attack on the Kiambaa Church in Kenya's Rift Valley region after the December 2007 election, marred by allegations of widespread rigging.


About 36 people were burnt to death in the attack, blamed on supporters of Mr Ruto. The trial resumed on Wednesday after it was adjourned last week to allow Mr Ruto to return to Kenya to deal with the 21 September attack on the Westgate shopping centre in the capital, Nairobi.


The Somali Islamist group, al-Shabab, said it carried out the four-day siege, which left 67 people dead while a further 39 are still missing.
Radio executive Joshua arap Sang is standing trial alongside Mr Ruto, accused of whipping up ethnic hatred in the aftermath of the election.
He has pleaded not guilty.



Some 1,200 people died and 600,000 were forced from their homes during the conflict.


Mr Ruto is the first senior government official to be tried by the ICC.
He and Mr Kenyatta were on opposite sides in the 2007 election, but formed an alliance to win power in elections in March this year.
They said their alliance showed that Kenyans had resolved their differences, and the ICC was meddling in the country's affairs by pressing ahead with their trials.

BBC News - ICC seeks Walter Barasa arrest for Kenya 'witness tampering'

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Will the Kenya government arrest and hand over Barasa to be tried for his crimes? The arrest warrant has been issued, what is the government waiting for? The significant development here is that the arrest warrant was unsealed on Oct. 2, 2013. That means it is now a public arrest warrant and Kenya has an obligation to act on it.

Before it was a sealed arrest warrant issued on August 2, 2013. It seems to me that the OTP thinks they have the evidence to lock this guy up. Time to act is now. Bring Barasa to The Hague. Everybody has been asking to see who are the people intimidating and compromising witnesses. Time to get that ball rolling in pursuit of justice for Kenyans.

In fact the Kenyan government should have started the process of handing over Barasa to the ICC as from August 2, 2013 when the sealed Arrest Warrant was issued against him. That warrant must have been handed over to the Kenyan government. They did nothing.

Instead Barasa has been issuing all sorts of statements in the impunity friendly internet media. Obviously the Kenyan government told him an arrest warrant has been issued against him. The job of the Kenyan government is to arrest this guy. Now is a good time. The Kenyan government has been forced to respond to this inside rot within its body polity because the ICC has now made the Arrest Warrant public by unsealing it.

The struggle continues!

By the way folks, this Baraza guy was born in 1972 and got his diploma in journalism in 1985...he was 13yrs old! A genius of sorts if you ask me.

This case is not looking good for one William Ruto as it is. This is not only a telling sign to William Ruto of what awaits him in the prosecution corner, but also a warning shot to the Kenyatta defense which has been on steroids regarding witness bribery, intimidation and assassinations.
It was pretty obvious that Article 70 on witness tampering was going to be the Achilles heel on the duo's cases. It was just a matter of time before the widespread networks got unveiled. Expect more sealed arrest warrants folks!
This particular warrant for Barasa was only made public because a third party state (neighboring country) where Barasa had been busy tracking other witnesses leaked the information (of an earlier issued sealed warrant) to Kenyan authorities.

Githu Muigai may play delay tactics in the handing over of Barasa –but it will only be to the detriment of Uhuru and Ruto. Justice Ombija already made a ruling (in the al Bashir case) regarding the steps Kenyan authorities need to take with respect to such ICC warrants.

Any sign of non-cooperation with ICC will be accurately diagnosed by chamber Judges, and factored in whenever Uhuru and Ruto defense requests of goodwill are made in future.

In the meantime, witness 536 is still giving her testimony which is quite damning to Ruto. She resisted Barasa's offer of bribe from Ruto. She is telling it all out in court. Why would Ruto want to bribe her out of giving testimony? That's the question in the minds of chamber Judges.

it seems ICC is enslaving witnesses with fear, to wrongly implicate ruto, and the timing of the warrant of arrest to be sanctioned by muigai is also suspect. i do not see anything productive coming out of that court. whatever is happening now gives the feeling we are yet to witness a long circus of such events.

chief_mtemi said:

Wht is behind this matter,kenya needs to have peace over their executive leaders,the ICC is doing its job by political influence from the metropolitians,it is the tym now we africans to unite and say no to these whites

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Actually, i think Barasa needs to go and defend himself. He seems to have information that might shed light to all this confusion.

chief_mtemi said:

Wht is behind this matter,kenya needs to have peace over their executive leaders,the ICC is doing its job by political influence from the metropolitians,it is the tym now we africans to unite and say no to these whites

Click to expand...

Actually, i think Barasa needs to go and defend himself. He seems to have information that might shed light to all this confusion.