Blogger Pauline Njoroge Arraigned, Police Seek to Detain Her For 30 Days
Police in Watamu, Kilifi County are still holding Jubilee deputy secretary general Pauline Njoroge and two others and are yet to charge them in court.
Police plan to charge her with offenses under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act, the National Commission and Integration Commission Act, the Penal Code, and the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.
They produced the three in court on Monday.
They want the three to be detained for 30 days to enable them to complete their investigations. The police in an affidavit say Pauline has been posting and tweeting inflammatory and inciteful messages against state agencies on her social media accounts, leading to polarization of her followers locally, regionally, and internationally.
“The 1st respondent’s inflammatory remarks have been targeting the Head of State, who is a symbol of National unity and security. Twitter and Facebook platforms are cloud-based, and any of the three respondents, having access to an electronic device connected to the internet, can log in to the mentioned accounts and edit, delete, or deactivate these accounts.”
Read: Blogger Pauline Njoroge Arrested
Police argue if the respondents are released before the source of the said inflammatory information is established and secured, the source may easily be erased to the detriment of this case.
Lawyers Ndegwa Njiru, Suiyanka Lempaa and Sophia Rajab are having a difficult time trying to have their clients produced in court formally. The victims were arrested Saturday in what is seen as politically motivated move.
Njiru said there are no registration records at the Malindi Law Courts to indicate that the trio will be produced in court.
He added that their inquiries at the Watamu Police Station hit a dead end as the officer in charge of the station told them that they had strict instructions not to produce them in any court until they get orders from above.
Pauline Njoki Njoroge, Jane Mwangi Nduta and Emanze Jilani, a driver were allegedly arrested after the car they were travelling in was intercepted by detectives along the Watamu-Jakaranda road on Saturday.
Read Also: Pauline Njoroge, Two Others Arrested for Drug Possession – Police
They were allegedly found in possession of narcotics drugs upon search of the car and their hotel rooms.
They have denied the claims as lies by the police. Pauline is a popular blogger and has been a critic of the Kenya Kwanza government hence the move to attack her, many feel so.