Court Orders Edgar Obare's Arrest

Blogger Edgar Obare was arrested by the DCI on Thursday, March 4
Blogger Edgar Obare was arrested by the DCI on Thursday, March 4
File

A court sitting in Kiambu has ordered the arrest of blogger Edgar Obare after he missed appearing before it.

The ruling was made on Thursday, August 5 2021, after Obare failed to honour an appearance he was supposed to make on Wednesday, August 4. The blogger was scheduled for a virtual court session in an ongoing hearing of a criminal case.

Kiambu Resident Magistrate Rita Orora heard that Obare skipped court twice while the prosecution was ready to present four witnesses in the case.

Blogger Edgar Obare pictured on September 5, 2020.
Blogger Edgar Obare pictured on September 5, 2020.
Instagram

State Counsel Stella Oyagi asked the court to issue the arrest warrant against Obare adding that the complainant in the case, a female vlogger, was among those in court ready to give their testimonies.

The prosecution had on March 21 2021, asked the court to issue a warrant of arrest against Obare after he failed to show up in court but the magistrate dismissed the request.

His lawyer Titus Munene stated that the accused was in Kisumu and could not appear due to the Covid-19 lockdown. 

The court agreed with the defence lawyer ruling that the Covid-19 pandemic had made it impossible for Obare to move out from the zone under lockdown to Kiambu county where the case was being heard.

Obare was arraigned at the Kiambu Law Courts following his arrest in Kisumu. He was charged with the disclosure of private data. 

In August 2020, his lawyer spoke to Kenyans.co.ke and revealed that Obare would be charged with exposure of private data in contravention of Section 72 of the Data Protection Act. 

Obare became one of the first casualties of the controversial act which was enacted in November 2019 with the aim of regulating the collection and processing of data in Kenya.

It introduced various obligations for persons collecting and processing data as well as stiff penalties for infringement.

"(The Act) is meant to claw back the gains achieved in the Constitution 2010. What it is doing is taking back the rights people died for to be achieved in the Constitution. We're a free country," Munene stated, arguing that defamation was a civil matter.

Undated file image of the entrance to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road.
A file image of the entrance to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road.
Kenyans.co.ke
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