Lawyer Nelson Havi has issued a warning to police officers in the wake of murder charges filed against Klinzy Barasa, an officer implicated in the fatal shooting of mask vendor Boniface Kariuki.
In a statement on Friday, July 11, Havi highlighted the personal cost that officers often bear when the state disowns them after the damage is done.
"Let the prosecution and imprisonment of Klinzy Masinde be a lasting reminder to police officers that in the end, you pay the ultimate price of losing your liberty and life alone.
"The President, CS, PS, IG, Lagat and Bungei won’t be there. You will have an imbecile for a lawyer,” he said.
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On Thursday, July 10, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) approved murder charges against Barasa.
In a statement, the ODPP noted that Masinde appeared before Justice Kanyi Kimondo at the Milimani High Court, where the judge directed that he be remanded at Nairobi Remand Prison and undergo mental assessment.
The statement further informed us that Barasa was scheduled to return to court on July 28 to take a plea.
Meanwhile, his colleague, Kiprono, was released after the DPP confirmed that no murder charges would be brought against him.
Kariuki was shot on June 17 on the streets of the Central Business District (CBD) in Nairobi and later died at Kenyatta National Hospital.
He was shot during protests over the death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang while in police custody.
Video footage from the scene showed two police officers manhandling Kariuki before one shot the unarmed vendor at close range.
Kariuki remained on life support for nearly two weeks before doctors informed his family that his heart was still beating, but his brain had ceased functioning.
