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Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru, accused of corruptly influencing International Criminal Court (ICC) witnesses in a case against Deputy President William Ruto, has informed the court that he will not admit the charges levelled against him.

Gicheru also on Friday evening maintained that his surrender was voluntary, without any coercion.

Gicheru while appearing before the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou said he will formally enter a plea of ‘not guilty’.

“I wish this to go on record. I do not intend to admit the charges under Article 65.

I wish to state, for the purposes of clarity, that the allegations read out to me are not true. The six of them are false,” Gicheru said.  

“I wish to confirm to the Court that I surrendered myself to this Court, to the Dutch authorities first on November 2.

This surrender was without coercion from anybody, it was voluntary and I did so at my own expense,” he added.

Gicheru, who represented himself at this hearing via video-link from the ICC Detention Centre, was responding to a question from Judge Alapini-Gansou who asked if he had any observations to make as to the conditions of his surrender and his detention at the ICC headquarters.

The charges had earlier been read to the well-connected Eldoret-based lawyer and his rights explained to him.

He is suspected of offences against the administration of justice by corruptly influencing witnesses of the Court.