A Nairobi court on Monday ordered police not to torture Benson Malova Ashiko who was arrested for sharing a photo on X which depicted a funeral service of President William Ruto.
Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi allowed police to detain him until Thursday but on condition that he is not tortured.
She directed the police to protect Ashiko who is alleged to have posted a photograph depicting a funeral of his excellence William Ruto.
Police presented him in court seeking for 40 days to detain him as they conclude investigations into the allegations of publishing the said photograph on X.
According to court documents, Ashiko is being investigated for a case of publishing of false information where the police told court that he shared a photograph in his X account depicting a funeral of H.E William Ruto, the president of Kenya.
The said photograph was captioned “My condolences to the first family” which was deemed to imply that the president was dead.
The court was told that some of the comments made on the photo upload were grossly offensive and detrimental towards the president and were intended to negatively affect the president’s reputation together with members of his family and cause panic among citizens.
According to the prosecution the post had reached quite a large population both within Kenya and outside the Country.
The state said the behavior of posting photographs of the president in a coffin had become rampant in the republic of Kenya.
However, Ashikos lawyers objected to the application by the prosecution to detain the suspect for 40 days saying police can as well conclude their investigations with the suspect enjoying his freedom outside cells.
In her ruling, Shitubi said Ashivi should not be subjected to any form of torture especially given the fact that the alleged offence touches the most powerful person in the Country.
She declined to allow the application for 40 days by the state saying Article 49 h of the constitution provides that the suspect has a right to be released on bail and or bond unless there are compelling reasons.
“The court must be careful to protect his rights although it must not appear to be trivializing what the suspect has committed, I will allow him to be detained for only 4 days that is up to 30th after the said date, he will be released on Sh 50,000 bond with an alternative cash bail of Sh 5,000.” She ruled.
Shitubi also directed the Investigating officer to ensure that the suspect is not tortured given the fact that the said offence touches the most powerful family in Kenya.
The suspect will be released from police cells on January 30, 2025 upon executing a bond of Sh 50,000 or an alternative cash bail of Sh 5,000.
