A Nairobi Milimani Court has condemned the detention of individuals accused of minor offenses.
This after comedian Eric Omondi was arraigned on Monday after being in custody the whole weekend.
Omondi was charged with creating a disturbance likely to cause a breach of peace after allegedly blocking vehicles and pouring kales (sukuma wiki) on Parliament Road in Starehe Sub-County.
Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ikhubi, criticized law enforcement agencies for detaining suspects in misdemeanor cases unnecessarily.
“In such offenses, you don’t need to keep somebody in custody for a whole weekend,”l said Ikhubi.
“Even the law provides that the court should not detain them, even for a single day. Let us trickle down the spirit of the Constitution to each agency that enforces the law.”
Omomdi was released on a cash bail of Sh5,000 after denying the charges.
Court directed the matter to be mentioned on December 4, for pre trial purposes
Omondi in a statement on Friday, November 15, said that he was arrested before he boarded his flight to Tanzania.
Also Read: Comedian Eric Omondi Arrested At JKIA Before Trip To Tanzania
According to the comedian, he was enroute to Dar es Salaam in an inaugural flight of Skyward Express, which he represents as an ambassador.
Omondi revealed that he was blocked by immigration officers who informed him of a Stop Order barring his travel after he handed over his passport.
“I have been arrested at JKIA just before I boarded a flight to Dar Es Salaam. As a Brand Ambassador to Skyward, we were launching the inaugural Dar Es Salaam flight. Upon handing over my Passport, the Immigration officers informed me that there is a Stop Order and that I cannot travel, and I have to be detained,” said Omondi.
Police then refused to release him on bond detaining him over the weeknd.
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