A Nairobi court has instructed police officers investigating Nation journalist Walter Menya’s case to give him back his phone and laptop.
The journalist told court on Tuesday that the items, which he uses for work and communication, have not been returned to him.
According to the Star, the Nation journalist asked the court to order for their release once the officers are through with their analysis of the gadgets.
Principal magistrate Martha Mutuku asked the investigating officers to hand over the gadgets to Menya.
Menya’s lawyer James Orengo had earlier told the court that police had not returned the items which they seized from his house.
The journalist was arrested following allegations that he demanded Sh50,000 from one Kennedy Koros to publish a story in the Sunday Nation.
Police also claimed that the journalist had received a down payment of Sh32,000 through M-Pesa between June 15 and 17.
It was alleged that he published the story with the headline ‘Civil Servants in JP Foundation say all they want is to alleviate poverty’.
The police, in their charge, said Menya went to Koros to collect the balance after the story was published.
The court was also told that at the time of the arrest, Menya was found in possession of Sh20,000 which was treated for purposes of evidence collection.
This was after the report was made and the money kept as the exhibit.
However, Mutuku had released him unconditionally because the prosecution, in their investigations, had not shown the court what he had done.
It is still not clear if they will charge him or not.
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