Eight legislators who were detained on suspicion of making hate speech utterances have finally been released by the Milimani Law Court.
MPs Kimani Ngunjiri, Aisha Jumwa, Junet Mohamed, Timothy Bosire, Florence Mutua and Senator Johnson Muthama were Friday evening set free on a Sh300,000 cash bail or a Sh1 Million bond with a surety of the same.
Announcing the decision, Justice Daniel Ogembo ruled that the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence to support allegations that the lawmakers would interfere with witnesses. The Judge noted that the witnesses in question had not even been stated.
He further indicated that there was no reason for the court to deny the suspects bail as the defence had argued their case supporting the legislators' release.
However, when it came to ruling on a bail application by Gatundu South lawmaker Moses Kuria and his Kabete counterpart Ferdinand Waititu, Justice Ogembo highlighted the gravity of cases facing the two.
The judge observed that Kuria was already having two similar hate speech cases while Waititu had one pending case which was a 'threat to national security'.
He, however, stated that the two were supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty, therefore, had a right to be granted bail. They were ordered to pay a cash bail of Sh2 Million or Sh5 Million bond with a surety of the same.
The eight legislators, who had been detained at Pangani and Muthaiga police stations, were ferried to the court in the cover of darkness on Friday morning.
Read Also: VIDEO: 8 Politicians Taken to Court in Darkness
During the hearing, activities were temporarily halted as Ngunjiri was led out to get fresh air after a lawyer told the court that the lawmaker was unwell owing to the chilling floor at the cells.
