Kenyan subject of ICC arrest warrant denies charges

Kenyan Walter Barasa denied on Wednesday charges by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he had tried to bribe witnesses to withdraw testimony in the case against Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto.         

"I deny any such charges," Barasa, a Kenyan journalist who works in Ruto's political turf of Eldoret, northwest of the capital Nairobi, told Reuters by telephone after the court issued an arrest warrant.          

"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, adding that police had so far not tried to detain him.

In a court filing, prosecutors said Walter Osapiri Barasa had been charged with three counts of corruptly influencing a witness, allegedly paying one prosecution witness and his wife 1.4 million Kenyan shillings ($16,200) to withdraw their testimony. They said Kenya must now arrest Barasa.              

Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta are charged separately with orchestrating a wave of violence that swept Kenya after contested elections in 2007, in which some 1,200 people died. ($1 = 86.3500 Kenyan shillings)


REUTERS