Editor's Review

  • DPP has withdrawn treachery charges against blogger Robert Alai.
  • Alai will also have his Ksh300,000 cash bail refunded.
  • He was charged for posting gory pictures of police officers killed in a terror attack in Wajir.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has withdrawn treachery charges against blogger Robert Alai.

On Wednesday the DPP made the move which will also see Alai's Ksh300,000 cash bail refunded.

In July 2020, Alai was charged for posting gory pictures of police officers killed in a terror attack in Wajir.

He faced two counts of treachery and disclosure of information against the law before Milimani Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi.

The prosecution's case was that the offence was committed on June 17, 2019, at an unknown place with the intention of helping Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group.

According to the prosecution, Alai shared a photo of dead police officers on a WhatsApp platform, an act of interfering with the public order within the Republic of Kenya.

In the second count, Alai was charged with disclosing information in the form of images of dead police officers to the public through the Twitter handle @RobertAlai, which is likely to prejudice the investigations.

“People of Kenya have a right to information and journalists have absolute rights to inform the public of what is happening within the surrounding,” his lawyer Paul Muite told the court.