Kenyan Journalist Walter Barasa is in the eye of a storm after the Court of Appeal lifted an order earlier issued barring his arrest and extradition to the International Criminal Court.
Barasa is on the ICC’s radar and has been accused of witness tampering in the cases involving Deputy President William Ruto and Radio Journalist Joshua Arap Sang.
He has been accused of offering sh1.4 million to Witness No 536 to withdraw as an ICC prosecution witness in Ruto and Sang’s trial.
In 2013, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda obtained a warrant of arrest from ICC Judges against Barasa but he rushed to the High Court to seek a barring order in 2014.
But the Court upheld that he be extradited and he appealed against the ruling at the Appellate Court.
The Court of Appeal gave him temporary relief after quashing the High Court’s ruling and instructed him to provide a copy of his filed documents to the Interior Ministry.
But in the recent ruling by the Court of Appeal, a three-Judge Bench consisting Justices Phillip Waki, Kathurima M’inoti and Patrick Kiage; they lifted the order citing Barasa’s lawyer Kibe Mungai failed to serve Attorney-General Githu Muigai and Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko with a copy of his amended documents filed in court.
“It boggles the mind that the lawyer lacks civility with the court and his colleagues and then risks the case of his client. We ought to punish the truancy of the lawyer and ensure justice for his client. The protective order issued by this court giving protection against the arrest of the appellant is hereby vacated,” said the Judges in the Tuesday ruling.
Before the ruling, lawyer Mungai had sent an associate from his firm to seek for an adjournment in the case citing that he had not managed to serve the AG and DPP with a copy of the amended court papers.
The Judges saw this as a waste of the court’s time and lifted the extradition order.
The Journalist is now squarely on ICC’s purview as the international court seeks for his arrest and extradition through the help of Kenyan authorities.