Latest news with #SamanthaPendo
News24
05-05-2025
- Politics
- News24
Kenya police officers plead not guilty over baby's death in 2017 election unrest
Four Kenyan police officers pleaded not guilty to killing six-month-old Samantha Pendo during the 2017 election riots. Charges against seven others were dropped at the last minute, sparking outrage from rights groups. The case became a symbol of police brutality and delays in Kenya's justice system. Four Kenyan police officers pleaded not guilty on Monday to the killing of a six-month-old girl during bloody riots that erupted over a presidential election in 2017. The death of Samantha Pendo became, for many Kenyans, a symbol of unchecked police brutality during the disputed election, the first in the country's history to be annulled. Murder, rape and torture charges against civilians were read out to the four officers in a Nairobi court on Monday. They pleaded not guilty to all counts. The charges against seven others were dropped by the prosecutor at the last minute. "At least now I know that the justice I was crying for from the beginning, I am going to get it," Samantha's father Joseph Oloo Abanja told reporters outside the court. Samantha died after she was allegedly beaten by police officers during a raid on her house as protests flared in the western city of Kisumu. On the day of the incident, police allegedly fired tear gas into their house and battered down the door before raining blows on the couple with batons while the mother held Samantha in her arms. An autopsy showed that she suffered acute head injuries. The case has dragged on, with repeated court delays and the disappearance of one of the main suspects nearly five years ago. "Today I felt good," Samantha's mother Lensa Achieng said. She said: It has not been an easy journey for us. Because each time this case comes up, we always feel traumatised. Precedent Amnesty International's Kenya director Irungu Houghton said the case was setting a precedent in the country that "elections should not come with death, trauma and injuries". But Amnesty joined 29 other rights groups in condemning the last-minute reduction to just four accused, as well as the inclusion of the names of victims and witnesses in the charge sheet, which they say could jeopardise the case. The officers, who remain on active duty, were ordered to return for a bail hearing on 14 May. The 2017 protests erupted after victory was declared for then-president Uhuru Kenyatta, angering supporters of veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga. The result was annulled by the Supreme Court after a challenge by Odinga, but he boycotted the rerun that was won by Kenyatta. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights documented 94 deaths during the 2017 election crisis as well as 201 cases of sexual violence and over 300 woundings,the majority of which were attributed to security forces.
Straits Times
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Kenyan court charges four police officers over baby's death after 2017 elections
Lenzer Achieng, the mother of six-month-old Samantha Pendo who died during an August 2017 police crackdown on opposition supporters, holds her daughter's clothes inside her home, in the western city of Kisumu, Kenya, January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo NAIROBI - A Kenyan court on Monday charged four police officers with crimes against humanity over accusations of killing a baby during a crackdown on protests after a disputed election in 2017, according to court documents, media and rights groups. Charges against eight other officers were dropped due to what the prosecutor's office said was insufficient evidence, Citizen Television reported, in a move that was condemned by rights campaigners including Amnesty's Kenya chapter. The four officers pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to local media reports. Police in the East African nation frequently face accusations of brutality and extrajudicial killings from civilians and rights groups, but officers are rarely charged and almost never convicted. Six-month-old Samantha Pendo died in August 2017 in the western city of Kisumu after officers threw tear gas into her home, suffocating and beating her, according to her mother's . An inquest into the incident was opened in November that year. The prosecutor's office recommended that 12 officers be charged with the deaths of Pendo and 39 other protesters during countrywide protests challenging the outcome of the 2017 presidential vote. Thirty Kenyan rights groups, including Amnesty, condemned the prosecutor's decision to drop the charges against eight of the officers, saying it was done without the involvement of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, which investigated the case. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Reuters
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Kenyan court charges four police officers over baby's death after 2017 elections
NAIROBI, May 5 (Reuters) - A Kenyan court on Monday charged four police officers with crimes against humanity over accusations of killing a baby during a crackdown on protests after a disputed election in 2017, according to court documents, media and rights groups. Charges against eight other officers were dropped due to what the prosecutor's office said was insufficient evidence, Citizen Television reported, in a move that was condemned by rights campaigners including Amnesty's Kenya chapter. The four officers pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to local media reports. Police in the East African nation frequently face accusations of brutality and extrajudicial killings from civilians and rights groups, but officers are rarely charged and almost never convicted. Six-month-old Samantha Pendo died in August 2017 in the western city of Kisumu after officers threw tear gas into her home, suffocating and beating her, according to her mother's testimony at the time, opens new tab. An inquest into the incident was opened in November that year. The prosecutor's office recommended that 12 officers be charged with the deaths of Pendo and 39 other protesters during countrywide protests challenging the outcome of the 2017 presidential vote. Thirty Kenyan rights groups, including Amnesty, condemned the prosecutor's decision to drop the charges against eight of the officers, saying it was done without the involvement of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, which investigated the case.
