Police on Wednesday failed to present renowned human rights defender Khelef Khalifa in court citing a directive from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP)
Khalifa who arrived at the Malindi CID headquarters Wednesday morning was interrogated for the second time for about an hour and was later informed that the file has been returned to the Director of Public Prosecution for further instruction.
Khalifa who was on Saturday August, 17 detained together with his family at the Mida creek area long Mombasa-Malindi highway is facing two charges; disturbance and obstruction.
Security agents who identified themselves as ‘Special forces’ terrorised the Muslims for Human Rights Director with his family for over five hours before they were taken to Malindi police station.
Khalifa was later released on a Ksh10,000 police bond and was ordered to present himself at the Malindi DCI headquarters on Wednesday morning which he did.
“However, the CID officers interrogated me again for over one hour and later told me that the file had been returned to the DPP for further guidance,” he told journalists.
Khalifa disclosed that the officers told him that he will be informed if he will be presented in court or not on September 23, this year, after his file is returned to the DCI Headquarters.
“However, in a blatant disregard for justice, the DCI in Malindi announced that I would not be taken to court. Instead, they extended his bond until September 23, 2024, claiming that the DPP in Nairobi had requested the file. This is a clear attempt to delay justice and intimidate me,” said Khalifa.
He relentlessly vowed to pursue for justice.
“As I said earlier, I will not relent in this particular case, let them do what they deem best but for me I will as well press charges against them for violating my rights and as well ignoring court orders,” said Khalifa.
He said by harassing him and his family that was already a violation of human rights.
“Recently, the courts barred police officers from being on duty while they have covered their faces and without any identification badges on their uniforms. However, this particular ‘special forces’ were hooded and did not identify themselves, we must press charges against them,” noted the rights defender.
The procedures of the case levelled against the renowned rights defender who once worked as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) will be known on September, 23 2024.
