Activist arrested for slurring President Kenyatta released on Sh500,000 cash bail
A human rights activist who was arraigned in court yesterday for publishing false information has been released on a 500,000 shillings cash bail.
Edwin Mutemi Kiama is also required to deposit a surety of similar amount and has been ordered to be reporting to the investigating officer for the next ten days.
Kiama is required to report to the Investigating Officer, Patrick Kibowen, at a place of their choice for the next 10 days, while observing Covid-19 protocols.
In her ruling, Senior resident magistrate Jane Muthoni ordered Kiama not to tweet anything about the government with the matter set to come up for hearing on April 20th this year.
The prosecution had sought to have the suspect detained for a further 14 days to allow police complete investigations which his legal team comprising of Martha Karua and Harun Ndubi opposed.
However, the Senior Resident Magistrate said that the State failed to give compelling reasons to keep detaining Kiama.
Investigating authorities say the information published by Kiama amounts to false publication.
In his affidavit, Kibowen said that Kiama committed cybercrime-related offences and published false information about President Uhuru Kenyatta on different occasions between April 5 and 6, 2021.
During the arrest, the accused was found with three laptops, a hand drive and two mobiles phones which were confiscated and submitted to the digital forensic laboratory for forensic examination.
The police are also looking for other people believed to have colluded with Kiama to post the said information.
