Kenyan-based Lawyer Paul Gicheru and the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors will make their conclusive arguments on Monday in a bribery case involving witnesses that were testifying against Deputy President William Ruto in connection to the 2007 post-election skirmishes.

Gicheru and the prosecutors have already filed their written closing submissions.

Both sides will appear before Trial Chamber III judge Maria Samba for their closing statements and counterarguments.

Gicheru denied helping Ruto tamper with his crimes against humanity case, which ended in April 2016.

William Ruto. PHOTO/COURTESY

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However, the prosecution insists Gicheru was involved in influencing the eight witnesses who were the subjects of the confirmed charges against him.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameen Khan the evidence before the chamber establishes Gicheru’s guilt for corruptly influencing witnesses through bribery and intimidation.

"The evidence before the Chamber, considered and weighed in its totality, establishes beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Gicheru is guilty of the charges specifically of corruptly influencing witnesses through bribery, intimidation, or a combination of both as a direct perpetrator or as a co-perpetrator," Khan said.

Gicheru wants the court to find him not guilty of the charges levelled against him and claims the case is hinged on irreparably defective investigations.

The arrest warrant against Gicheru and Philip Kipkoech Bett was issued under seal on March 10, 2015, and unsealed on September 10, 2015, for corruptly influencing ICC witnesses in the Kenya cases related to the 2007 post-election violence.

On November 2, 2020, Gicheru surrendered himself to the authorities in The Netherlands and was surrendered to ICC custody on November 3, 2020.

He first appeared before the ICC on November 6, 2020, and on December 11, 2020, the Pre-Trial Chamber A separated the cases against him and Philip Kipkoech Bett.