Young Kenyans involved in the anti-Finance Bill demonstrations are being abducted under suspicious circumstances, raising concerns about police conduct and human rights abuses.
According to the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Billy Simani (aka Crazy Nairobian) and George Dianno were taken into custody on June 22 and held incommunicado before being released after interventions by the LSK and other stakeholders.
The following day, Dr. Austin Omondi, a young doctor coordinating medical aid for protesters, Dr. Salim Ishmael, and Shadrack Kiprono (aka Shad Khalif) were abducted by masked men believed to be police officers.
As of June 25, the whereabouts of Omondi, Ishmael, and Kiprono remain unknown.
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In a statement, the LSK said: “Over the last 72 hours, Kenya has been drawn back to the dark era of a rogue, irrational police force operating through repressive, retrogressive, clandestine, illegal, extra-judicial tactics to quell public dissent against misgivings of government forcefully, lapses in governance and more specifically, the contentious Finance Bill 2024… we will unmask and take actions against these rogue criminal elements putting our police in ruin.”
The CCTV video apparently showing the abduction of Kiprono in South B, Nairobi, by masked attackers sparked widespread condemnation.
“The abduction … shows “three men in masks descend upon Kiprono and force him into a white Land Cruiser,” said Faith Odhiambo, president of LSK. ” Evidently, this was not an arrest as the police did not identify themselves or engage in any conversation before the arrest to inform him of his rights,” said Odhiambo.
“These criminals pretending to exercise police authority must be stopped.”
She said the LSK took up the case “with all hands on deck to find Kiprono’s whereabouts and identify the criminal faction of the Police carrying out these abductions. We condemn the sustained unconstitutionalities and atrocities being perpetrated by the police, and demand the immediate release of Kiprono.”
According to The Star, activist Boniface Mwangi, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Haki Africa Director Khalid Hussein, and activist and journalist Hanifa Farsafi were detained in the cells of the Nairobi regional police station after handing themselves over for arrest.
They were released before the planned shutdown in Kenya today (June 25).
