Kenyan journalist freed after mistaken arrest drama

•
The veteran Kenyan journalist says Kenyan police were looking for him

Kenyan police have freed a veteran journalist after “mistakenly” arresting him at a police station and dramatically pushing him into a private vehicle.

Macharia Gaitho said he was trailed near his home in the capital, Nairobi, by people in two cars, who refused to identify themselves.

He was with his son, who drove with him to a nearby police station for his safety – where he was violently shoved into a car and driven away.

Police later said it was case of “mistaken identity” and that they had been hunting another person who they accuse of discrediting police investigations into a suspected serial killer.

“The (police) would like to clarify to the public that this morning, we arrested journalist Macharia Gaitho in a case of mistaken identity, meant for the arrest of Francis Gaitho who is our subject of investigation,” they said in a statement.

It triggered a furious response from Kenyans online, following a wave of accusations that security officers had illegally abducted people seen to be linked to recent anti-government protests.

Mr Gaitho told journalists that in the car, he was “sandwiched between two men in civilian clothes”.

“I was handcuffed and assaulted,” he said.

He said the men had demanded to know why he was resisting arrest.

“I told them I was not resisting arrest, I was resisting criminals,” he said, noting that they had not identified themselves.

They later stopped and after some phone calls, drove him back to the Kileleshwa police station where he had been arrested. —BBC