(NDIMA/IFEX) – A journalist was arrested on the weekend of 21 to 22 April 2001 in the Garissa District of Kenya’s North Eastern Province after he engaged a police officer in an argument that arose after he was denied a chance to record a statement. Milton Omondi, a journalist working for the Kenya News Agency […]
(NDIMA/IFEX) – A journalist was arrested on the weekend of 21 to 22 April 2001 in the Garissa District of Kenya’s North Eastern Province after he engaged a police officer in an argument that arose after he was denied a chance to record a statement.
Milton Omondi, a journalist working for the Kenya News Agency (KNA) in Garissa, had gone to the police station to record death threats but was denied a chance to do so by a police officer.
Armed policemen frog-marched him to the cells shortly after he showed up at the station while on a routine assignment and charged him with creating a disturbance. In the week of 16 April, Omondi and two other newsmen received death threats for exposing corruption among some police officers in the area. The journalists’ source had agreed to testify in court if called upon, thus prompting the journalist to rush to report the grave matter to the police. However, the police officer chased Omondi away, saying he was “courting a disaster.” He left the station after a short exchange of words only to be arrested three days later while following a lead to another story at the Garissa police station.
