Veteran human rights defender Khelef Khalifa who was on Saturday arrested by hooded security forces only identified themselves as ‘Special Force’ has been released.
Khalifa who together with his family were subjected to harassment before being terrorised for over five hours, was ordered to surrender his Identification card, an order which he vehemently objected.
According to Khalifa, since the security agents could not identify themselves, he as well objected to their orders.
The security agents detained Khalifa for over five hours together with his family who were heading to Malindi from Mombasa for a family gathering.
The incident happened at Mida Creek area along the Mombasa-Malindi highway on Saturday morning.
The police later drove Khalifa and his family to the Malindi police station for interrogation.
“They took my finger prints and told me to appear before Malindi court on Monday to face disturbance and obstruction charges,” disclosed Khalifa.
He said he will abide by that, but reiterated that the police should not try to drop the case because he will pursue it to the end.
“Recently the court ordered police officers on duty never to cover their faces and always ensure their identification, thus the name and service number is clearly displayed on their uniforms. Why ignore such court orders?” posed the renowned human rights icon.
The police later released Khalifa on a Ksh 10,000 police bond.
The Saturday incident attracted condemnation from human rights defenders across the country who accused the police for violation of human rights in the country.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) condemned the incident terming it as a violation of human rights and the laws of the country.
