The High Court has stopped the state from charging former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko with assault and terrorism charges pending the hearing and determination of a suit seeking to quash his prosecution.
On Friday, March 19, Justice Weldon Korir ruled Sonko has established that his arrest and prosecution by Inspector-General of Police and Director of Public Prosecutions did not accord with the constitutional requirements.
“There is, therefore, need to stay the trials pending the hearing and determination of this petition…an order is thereby issued that pending the hearing and determination of this petition the respondents are stopped from further prosecuting the Applicant in the said cases,” ruled the Judge.
Sonko moved to court claiming that the IG and DPP are in the process of prosecuting him with the intention of overwhelming him and inducing his submission politically which is a violation of his fundamental rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Constitution.
He named IG Hillary Mutyambai, DPP Noordin Haji and Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki as respondents in the suit.
Through his lawyers, Sonko told the court that he was illegally detained based on the respondents’ impunity, malice and bad faith as they have brought frivolous and unfounded suits against him with the intent to keep him in custody.
He averred that DPP framed an evil scheme of lies, falsehoods and distortions to intentionally set him up on false charges and allegations.
“These actions subjected me to psychological, mental and physical torture. The respondents abused their offices which is an infringement of my fundamental rights and freedoms as provided in the Constitution,” he claimed in court documents.
According to Sonko, the DPP’s intent to maliciously persecute him on resurrected criminal cases for the period of 1988 to 2001 is specifically aimed to achieve a political outcome that will extinguish his political career as some those cases were nullified by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Korir directed the petition to be heard on priority basis.
