Six suspects accused of killing teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang will
appear in court on Tuesday to formally take a plea.
The group failed to take a plea on Monday after being
arraigned at the Kibera Law Court on Monday following the approval of the
murder charges by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
This is after Lady Justice Diana
Kavedza was told that two of the suspects had no legal representation. The
court subsequently ordered the Deputy Registrar to appoint lawyers for the two
suspects.
The accused include Officer Commanding Station
(OCS) Samson Kiprotich Talaam, Police Constables James Mukhwana and Peter
Kimani alias Kim, and civilians John Ngige Gitau alias Kinara, Gin Ammitou
Abwao alias Gilbeys, and Brian Mwaniki Njue.
"The third and fourth accused persons are
unrepresented. This matter shall be stood over to tomorrow, the 24th, for plea.
As directed, the Deputy Registrar is to appoint two advocates to be on
standby," ruled the court.
Talaam, through his lawyers Danstan Omari and
Cliff Ombeta, accused the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP)
of ambushing him.
The accused persons had earlier been presented before the magistrate's court
under miscellaneous applications.
According to Omari, advocates had been
properly placed on record in those matters.
However, he alleged that the accused were picked up from the police station
just 15 minutes prior to their unexpected court appearance, without any
communication with their legal counsel.
“If the State is being honest and follows the
law, they would be able to avoid these problems," said Ombeta.
According to the charge sheet, the six are
accused of killing blogger Albert Ojwang between 9:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. at the
Central Police Station on the night of June 7.
Three of the suspects had been detained at the
station cells over illegal possession of guns and were later used in the fatal
assault on the slain teacher.
The death of Ojwang has caused national fury
with protests that turned chaotic.
This forced the move by Deputy Inspector
General of Kenya Police, Eliud Lagat, to step aside amid investigations.
The
probe has exonerated him so far.
