Four police officers being investigated for the murder of a colleague will spend more days in custody after a magistrate declined to rule their detention, citing a lack of jurisdiction.
The officers appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Emily Cherop today, but no charges were formally leveled against them.
The Prosecution Council sought an extension of 14 days, arguing that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) required additional time to complete their probe.
This application was met with strong opposition from the defense lawyer, Mr. Danstan Omari, who accused the prosecutor of deliberately prolonging the detention of the four officers.
Mr. Omari fiercely opposed the application for extended detention, calling it a “failure by the State to justify any further infringement on the young men’s liberty.” He stressed that the Judiciary’s primary role is to “stop the excesses of the state” and warned the court against being “entrapped,” drawing parallels to the highly criticized Shakahola case, where the Judiciary faced blame for prolonged pre-charge detentions.
Despite the passionate defense arguments, Senior Resident Magistrate Emily Cherop ultimately deferred the ruling.
The Magistrate determined that the current court lacked the necessary jurisdiction to address the defense’s challenge to the detention, specifically the motion to expel the affidavit or to override the related prior order that had initially sought the 21-day detention of the officers.
“I am persuaded that the court has no jurisdiction to exercise those orders, but only the court that dealt with that specific affidavit and gave that ruling,” Senior Resident Magistrate Emily Cherop stated.
The Magistrate directed that the suspects remain in custody until November 25, 2025, awaiting a decision from the court with the original jurisdiction.
