Ex-witness opposes Barasa ICC arrest order

What you need to know:

  • The witness, who identified himself as KWN (P-0336 or K-0336), swore an affidavit in support of Mr Barasa’s opposition to his extraction to the ICC
  • According to the witness, ICC investigators met him in Nairobi in 2010 where he informed them about Mr Barasa

A third witness who withdrew from Deputy President William Ruto’s case at the International Criminal Court has opposed a warrant of arrest issued against journalist Walter Barasa.

The witness, who identified himself as KWN (P-0336 or K-0336), swore an affidavit in support of Mr Barasa’s opposition to his extraction to the ICC to face charges of alleged interference with witnesses.

The former witness, who claimed to be a human rights crusader, said he was the one who introduced Mr Barasa to ICC investigators and was convinced the allegations levelled against the journalist are false since there was no time Mr Barasa tried to induce him.

“The charges against Mr Barasa are tainted with fraud and illegality. They are based on false allegations that he tried to influence me but the truth is that the ICC investigators coerced me to sign statements implicating Mr Barasa or be arrested and charged jointly with him,” swore the witness.

According to the witness, ICC investigators met him in Nairobi in 2010 where he informed them about Mr Barasa.

“Since he is a resourceful person, I introduced him to the investigators who contacted him directly. He later informed me that they had a successful discussion and that he had agreed to work with them but not as a witness because as a journalist he was expected to be politically neutral,” he swore. (READ: Former Ruto, Sang witnesses defend Barasa)

NO PAY

He swore that after a month, Barasa told him that he was not going to continue working with the ICC because they were not paying him, despite the fact that he spent time collecting information for them and also getting other resourceful persons to give information.

He said that he went to exile in 2012 in Uganda and during his stay there Mr Barasa visited him in July 2013 while on his way to Burundi and only told him about the welfare of his people.

“A day after he left Uganda, ICC Investigators visited me and showed me photographs they had taken of us and a recording of our conversation which contained nothing to show that Barasa was coercing me or influencing me to cease being a Prosecution Witness,” said the witness.

He said the spying by the prosecutors made him worried and after the prosecutors sensed he was frightened, the ICC investigators told him if he countersigned the recording of his conversation with Barasa no charges would be preferred against him.