Chaos erupted outside Milimani Law Courts on Friday morning as police assaulted media personnel covering Babu Owino’s bail hearing.
In a video shared widely across social media, the police are seen pushing a media personnel outside court while shouting ‘media gani’ to the journalists who had already identified themselves. The police seemed to pay no regard to the journalists’ credentials and treated them the same as the demonstrators outside the courthouse even though they identified themselves and explained their reason for being there.
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This is said to have happened just moments after the Embakasi East MP was granted bail in his case. Self-proclaimed president of the Bunge la Mwananchi Calvin Okoth Otieno alias Gaucho and five other defendants also appeared in court with Babu Owino.
In his decision on Friday morning, Milimani Chief Magistrate Lukas Onyina underlined that the charges against the accused persons carry a maximum sentence of seven years in jail if found guilty. Babu Owino was granted Ksh 100,000 in bail by the court.
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The judiciary has condemned the actions of police in a press release dated July 21 stating that the arm of the government allows media to cover cases as part of the required vigilance in solving cases. They have urged the National Police Service to exercise their duties while allowing the media their constitutionally protected freedom.
The freedom of the press has been an issue in the recent coverage of the Azimio-led demonstrations. Journalists’ safety has been interfered with with even The Media Council of Kenya calling out plain-clothed police officers for pretending to be journalists, putting the safety of media personnel at risk.
