Three Kenyans central to a high-profile abduction case have been freed, rights teams reported Friday, alleging that safety forces had detained them for weeks following their participation in anti-government protests.
The trio was reportedly taken by people claiming to be police on Aug. 19 in Kitengela, roughly 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Nairobi.
Social media pictures confirmed two of the lads showing visibly shaken after their launch in a distant space late Thursday.
“Our partners have confirmed their release,” Cornelius Oduor of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission instructed AFP.
“(The images) clearly show that the men were in distress… It points to the fact that they have been in captivity.”
There has been no affirmation of the place Bob Njagi, Aslam Longton and his brother Jamil Longton have been held.
But Oduor stated, “We strongly believe that they were taken by security agents of Kenya.”
The two brothers have been dropped in a distant space exterior the capital Nairobi, based on tweets from the Kenyan Law Society president, whereas Njagi offered himself to the Tigoni police station.
The case has dominated Kenyan media in current days after a courtroom in Nairobi held appearing police chief Gilbert Masengeli in contempt for failing to seem to reply questions concerning the disappearance of the three males.
He was given till Friday to seem in courtroom to keep away from a six-month jail sentence.
“We believe (the men’s release) was intended to provide immediate grounds for (Masengeli) to challenge his conviction,” Oduor stated.
The Independent Police Oversight Authority has stated it’s trying into a number of complaints of illegal arrests and abductions within the wake of large-scale anti-government protests that broke out in Kenya in June.
More than 60 folks died throughout the protests, resulting in the resignation of police chief Japhet Koome.
Previous abduction circumstances have sparked livid protests in Kenya.
In February 2023, three cops have been handed sentences starting from 24 years in jail to the demise penalty for the brutal homicide of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani and two different folks.
Their our bodies have been discovered wrapped in sacks and dumped in a river exterior Nairobi in June 2016.
Source: www.dailysabah.com