Kenya: International Court Seeks Suspects for Bribing Witnesses

The International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant Thursday for two Kenyans suspected of bribing prosecution witnesses. The court identified the suspects as Paul Gicheru and Philip Kipkoech Bett and said the Kenyan police had arrested them in July. The court’s cases in Kenyafocus on postelection violence in 2007-8 that left more than 1,000 people dead. In a statement, Fatou Bensouda, the court prosecutor, said inquiries in Kenya had been “undermined by a relentless campaign that has targeted individuals who are perceived to be prosecution witnesses, with threats or offers of bribes, to dissuade them from testifying or persuade witnesses to recant their prior testimony.” In December, the court withdrew chargesagainst President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya for lack of evidence. Prosecutors had asserted that he helped organize violence after the 2007 election.