A Nairobi court issued a warrant of arrest against a senior police officer who failed to appear in court for trial where she is charged with illegal detention of a British national.
Rebecca Njeri Muraya, a former Officer Commanding Eastleigh North Police Station who is jointly charged alongside Seargent Abdisalam Ahmed from the same station failed to appear in court for directions.
She told the court she was sick.
The court noted that Muraya was not also represented by a counsel who could inform the court about her whereabouts and the reasons behind her failure to appear in court as ordered.
Sstate prosecutor Joyce Olajo urged the court to ignore the allegations of sickness since no documents availed in court as proof.
“The court cannot assume the allegations are true since no evidence produced. Her counsel did not appear in court also to explain the reasons she failed to appear before the court hence we urge the court to issue a warrant of arrest,” Olajo submitted.
The counsels holding brief for the complainant Julius Nyagah and Simon Mburu urged the court to consider the duration the matter has been delayed and consider prosecuting for the interest of justice.
Nyagah, from International Justice Mission IJM urged the court to consider the period that justice has been delayed,
“Your honor the matter has been delayed for three years without the complainant given justice and I wish to pray the court to hasten the matter to conclusion,” Nyagah told the magistrate.
In giving directions, the magistrate issued a warrant of arrest against Muraya stating no evidence adduced before the court to support the claim of ailment.
“I hereby issue a warrant of arrest against the first accused person for there is no evidence produced to prove she is sick,” the magistrate ruled.
The two officers were jointly charged with illegal detention and torturing a British national Ayni Hussein Mahammud.
They were charged that on December 31, 2021, at Eastleigh North Police Station intentionally and unlawfully jointly ordered the arrest of Ayni Hussein Mahammud and detained her at Muthaiga Police Station for two days.
The court was told that the detention was to intimidate Mahammud from pursuing her complaint of assault against Abdihakim Said Jama.
The two also faced another offense of abuse of office contrary to the law.
The prosecution told the court that the duo unlawfully and without sufficient cause and reason arrested Mahammud and detained her at Muthaiga Police Station.
The matter has been delayed since then prosecution seeking time to review the files they claim to emanate from the same complainant but reported from different entities.
For three consecutive times, the prosecution had been seeking for adjournment of the matter for 30 days to review the said files and give directions.
While seeking a warrant against Muraya, Olajo told the court that the file was in the office of the Director of Public Prosecution for review and they had no directions on the same,
The magistrate then admitted the prayers sought by the prosecution to grant the ODPP two weeks to review the file.
The matter will be mentioned on May 19, 2025, for directions.
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