AMSTERDAM / NAIROBI // The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for a Kenyan citizen charged with trying to bribe witnesses to withdraw testimony in a case against Kenyan deputy president William Ruto.
The suspect, Walter Barasa, a journalist in Mr Ruto’s political stronghold of Eldoret, said he denied the charges and said police had not tried to detain him.
Mr Ruto, whose trial began last month, and president Uhuru Kenyatta, are charged separately with orchestrating violence in Kenya after contested elections in 2007 and in which 1,200 people were killed. Mr Kenyatta’s trial starts in November.
Kenya has called for the cases to be dropped or moved closer to home. It has also rallied African support against the court, which has until now charged only Africans. The arrest warrant will test Kenya’s stated commitment to cooperate with the court.
Several witnesses have withdrawn, with prosecutors alleging intimidation and defence lawyers denying it. In March, the loss of an important witness led to the collapse of the case against Mr Kenyatta’s co-accused, the former civil service chief Francis Muthaura.
Prosecutors said Mr Barasa had been charged with three counts of corruptly influencing or seeking to corruptly influence witnesses.
One count charged that he had paid a prosecution witness and her husband 1.4 million shillings (Dh59,000) to withdraw testimony. Mr Barasa faced up to five years in prison, or a fine, or both if found guilty, she said.
A court spokesman said Kenyan authorities had been informed about the warrant.
Mr Barasa has denied the charges.
“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.
Mr Ruto’s trial resumed on Wednesday, after an adjournment to allow the deputy president to handle issues related to the Al Shabab attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall on September 21.
* Reuters
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%208
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Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
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Never Look Away (Germany)
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Naga
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RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
