What we know about deceased lawyer Paul Gicheru

Gicheru, who was also the chairman of the Export Processing Zone Authority, said he deliberately chose to make his travel to the Hague a secret so as not to trouble anyone.

The lawyer vehemently denied rumours and accusations that he flew to the Netherlands to try and fix Ruto by reviving the ICC case against the country's second-in-command.

He said surrendering to the ICC was a personal decision to honour the arrest warrant.

Gicheru remained at the ICC detention centre in The Hague for three months, a stay which he termed as "comfortable" revealing that he was given good treatment by both the Netherlands Government and the court and had access to what he wanted.

"I was given my own room at the detention centre. The rooms are good, with a television and a personal computer connected to the internet. I could also eat whatever I wanted but could buy food at times if what I wanted was not on the menu," Gicheru said.

Gicheru said detainees were also allowed limited access to phones, and that their families were allowed to visit them anytime they wished without restrictions.

In an exclusive interview with The Standard soon after returning home last year, Gicheru cut out as a confident and jovial person who was on the path to vindicating himself.

He said that by giving himself in, he had lifted a huge burden off his shoulders and was now a happy man.

"Owing to the nature of the matter, it was entirely a voluntary and personal decision in strict and exclusive consultation with my family without the participation of any third party. Any speculation on any third party involvement was entirely wrong and should be ignored," Gicheru said.

Gicheru said he heard about the "fixing rumours" while in confinement at The Hague, which he said were all lies as he did not surrender to implicate the DP.

"I did not go to ICC to fix anyone. It was a personal decision. My conscience could not be at peace forever knowing there was a warrant from ICC hanging over my head. I wanted to clear this thing to enable me to be at peace," he said.

Gicheru on February 16 took to the stand at the start of his 10-day trial at the Hague and denied bribing prosecution witnesses.

The commencement of the trial was dominated by revelations of bribery and threats of witnesses some at gunpoint.

In his parting shot regarding the whole ICC experience, Gicheru's message to Kenyans was that they should endeavour to keep peace and harmony and live together as brothers and sisters irrespective of their differences.