KENYA: Police arrest Muslim activist after riots

Record ID: 361193

  • Title: KENYA: Police arrest Muslim activist after riots
  • Date: 19th January 2010
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (JANUARY 18, 2009) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF THE NAIROBI HIGH COURT PEOPLE MILLING AROUND HIGH COURT ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF COURT IN SESSION, FRIDAY'S PROTEST PERPETRATORS IN THE DOCK COURT MUSLIM ACTIVIST, AL AMIN KIMATHI IN COURT MELEE AT THE COURT CORRIDORS AS ACTIVIST IS ARRESTED POLICE COCKING THEIR GUNS AS THEY COVER COURT EXIT (SOUNDBITE) (Engl
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVA9YCJ5K7RZEHIS8ARSHGBIVYSS
  • Story Text: Kenyan police arrested a prominent Muslim activist in chaotic scenes on Monday (January 18) as seven suspects appeared at Nairobi's High Court accused of involvement in riots that rocked the capital on Friday (January 15).
    Al-Amin Kimathi, chairman of Kenya's Muslim Human Rights Forum, was detained a day after the security forces raided a mainly Somali suburb of the city late on Sunday, arresting scores of people following violence at a protest on Friday.
    "What has happened to Al-Amin today is an attack on the rule of law and an attack on the judiciary," Mbugua Mareithi, Kimathi's lawyer, told Reuters as the white-robed Kimathi left the High Court in handcuffs, his arms raised above his head.
    Moments earlier, the seven suspects had been charged with unlawful protest, theft and destruction of property.
    While Friday's demonstration against the deportation of a jailed Muslim cleric was organised by Kenyan Muslims, many of the marchers who fought pitched battles with the security forces in the city centre for more than eight hours were Somalis.
    On Sunday, Kenyan security officers swooped on the Eastleigh suburb and detained scores of people, including 16 members of Somalia's parliament, a Somali lawmaker said.
    A senior police source said the individuals detained overnight had not been charged yet and were expected to appear in court soon. Local media said more than 300 people were arrested, but the police source could not confirm that figure.
    At Friday's protest, some demonstrators carried black flags identified with Somalia's hardline Islamist rebel group al Shabaab and there were reports of mobs attacking Somalis.
    The Kenyan government quickly put the blame for the violence that killed at least one person on extremist youths exposed to "foreign elements" and assured Muslims in Kenya their religious freedom and civil liberties would be respected.
    But some Somalis in Kenya fear they will all be tarred with the same brush, despite their warnings that rebel sympathisers and hardline clerics were a growing cause of concern in Kenya.
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