Kenya: Bring Detained Lawyer to Court

Tuesday February 6, 2018

Mr Miguna Miguna. He said police bombed their way into his house on February 2, 2018. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Kenyan police should urgently produce Miguna Miguna, an opposition party lawyer who was arrested in Nairobi on February 2, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. He is among three people, including two members of parliament, arrested in a crackdown by Kenyan authorities against those who participated in Raila Odinga’s oath ceremony on January 30. Police have failed to produce Miguna in court in accordance with court orders on both February 2 and February 5, as well as Kenyan law, which requires the accused to be brought to court within 24 hours.

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“Kenyan authorities should urgently obey a court order to either release or produce Miguna Miguna in court,” said Otsieno Namwaya, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The flagrant flouting of court orders undermines the basic concept of the rule of law.”

Odinga, presidential candidate for the leading opposition coalition, NASA, rejected Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in the country’s presidential election, after a court ordered a rerun of the August 8 election. Miguna and another lawyer, Tom Kajwang, swore in Odinga in as “the people’s president” on January 30 on the basis of August 8 election results, which Odinga and his NASA coalition insist they won.

The authorities also ignored a February 1 court order suspending the government shutdown of mainstream television and radio stations on January 30.

For more Human Rights Watch reporting, please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/africa/kenya

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