Kenyan lawyer who defended victim of police brutality found dead

A lawyer, Willie Kimani, representing a victim of police brutality in Kenya has been found dead.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), in its reaction to the development said it was a “dark day for the rule of law in Kenya”.

Kenya’s police have often been accused of brutality and they have been blamed for a series of extrajudicial killings.

According to the LSK, Mr Kimani went missing along with his taxi driver and client after a court appointment over a week ago.

One other body has been found but there are conflicting reports as to who this is.

The relationship between Kenyans and the state police have been frosty and that of mistrust. This prompted the spokesman of the National Police Service to ask Kenyans to change their perception of the police.

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According to him, “there is pervading fear among the public as they believe that law enforcers are working with criminals”.

According to a police source, the two bodies had been found on the bank of a river 70km (43 miles) north-east of Nairobi, while a search is on-going at the site to find the third body.

On Thursday, the inspector general of the national police service, George Kinoti, said that investigations would be pursued.

“In the event that a crime is disclosed linking any person, whether police officer or otherwise, the law will doubtless take its own course,” he said in a statement.

Mr Kimani was working for the International Justice Mission, a US legal charity which focuses on cases of police abuse of power.

He had been representing his client in a complaint against a police officer who had allegedly shot him during a traffic stop in 2015.

According to LSK, this is the first time that a lawyer working on a sensitive case has gone missing.

However, LSK head Isaac Okero told the BBC’s Mohammud Ali in Nairobi that the incident suggests “lawyers are becoming a target because of their work”.

 

 

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