(NDIMA/IFEX) – On 25 April 2001, Citizen radio and television station proprietor Samuel Kamau Macharia was arrested and charged with setting up and using radio communication equipment without a licence. The transmission equipment in question was placed along Forest Road in Karen and AMBank House along University Way in Nairobi. Police further accused the businessman […]
(NDIMA/IFEX) – On 25 April 2001, Citizen radio and television station proprietor Samuel Kamau Macharia was arrested and charged with setting up and using radio communication equipment without a licence. The transmission equipment in question was placed along Forest Road in Karen and AMBank House along University Way in Nairobi. Police further accused the businessman of obstructing them when they raided his offices on 25 April.
The police had to force their way into the radio station after they were denied entry by the businessman and his employees. They forced a metal barrier open before forcing their way in. Police were acting on orders from the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK). This is the second time that the CCK has crippled operations at the station (see IFEX alerts of 2 March, 31 and 27 January 2000). The CCK defended their action and said they took the action after the Royal Media Service illegally moved television and radio equipment from Limuru to Karen. In the afternoon of 25 April, Macharia was taken to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Nairobi for interrogation, before being taken to court, where he was charged with using a radio communication apparatus without a valid licence. He was released on a bond of Kes500,000 (approximately US$6,670) pending trial on 29 May.
The Royal Media Service’s lawyer, Gibson Kamau Kuria, said that the police officers were in contempt of court and that he would sue the officers for closing down the station and causing damage to property.
