A Kibera magistrate has said it will be a loss to the state to hold the Azimio supporters in prison before he released them on lenient bond terms.
“When released on huge bond terms they may just eat in prisons and the government will experience a big loss than to release them on a cash bail,” senior principal magistrate Esther Boke said.
Boke gave her verdict of releasing them on Sh30,000 bond with an alternative cash bail of Sh1,000 each with a credible contact person.
This was after lawyer Danstan Omari told the court that the accused persons were just participating in peaceful protests over the high cost of living.
Outside the court a group of people had arrived to show solidarity with the suspects.
“This people are hungry, they only participated in the protests after responding to a call from their leaders, just release them on a lenient bond terms,” Omari said.
“The people before you are jobless and have nothing , they are law abiding citizens who respect the law of the land.”
Omari wondered how possible it was that only the Kibera suspects were arraigned in court.
“Over 2,000 people were arrested and...only Kilimani police station decided to arraign them in court,” he added.
On his part, lawyer Shadrack Wambui told the court to release the accused persons on free bond on the grounds that the charges were malicious.
The case will be mentioned next month.
