By Cyrus Ombati
The Standard Group Monday evening urged the authorities to assure the security of its award-winning Television Senior Investigative Editor Mohamed Ali.
The media house said it was concerned by what it said was continued intimidation and harassment of its journalists.
In response to overwhelming concerns by Kenyans, the Group confirmed that Mohamed Ali, of the Jicho Pevu fame, had on Monday been arraigned in court over allegations of handling a stolen mobile phone.
“Whereas we are constrained by the fact that the matter is the subject of a judicial process, the Group is concerned over the intimidation and harassment that our journalists continue to receive, and the coincidence of the current arraignment of Mohamed Ali cannot be ruled out as part of a wider conspiracy,” said the statement.
Police claim the phone was stolen from Al-Amana Electronics along Luthuli Avenue, Nairobi, but Ali insists his innocence.
The saga
The Standard Group urged the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the relevant Government authorities to fully investigate the matter and assure the security of the journalist.
In a letter by Ali’s lawyers to the police, the journalist says that the saga started last year when he bought a new Nokia 8800 phone from a friend.
He used the handset for a few weeks before he acquired another but a few weeks later, CID officers asked him to visit the Central Police Station where he was informed that the phone had been stolen from a shop.
Police, who did not take his statement, remained with the phone and promised to track down the seller and investigate the case.
A letter to the Police Commissioner, the Director of Public Prosecutions and Director of CID dated March 16, by Ali’s lawyers subsequently chronicled how the police handled the matter.
In the letter, the lawyers protested at what they said was harassment and intimidation of Ali, and demanded that a full investigation of the matter be conducted.
The police did not reply to the letter but Ali says he was surprised when eight months later, he was summoned by the police and arraigned in court on charges of stealing the Nokia phone said to cost Sh120,000.
Only a week earlier, Ali and colleague Dennis Onsarigo reported that a senior police officer had been trailing them on five different occasions at popular eateries in the city.
Big Series
Last year, the two investigative reporters ran a bold piece on how drug dealers and state agents had frustrated a probe into the Sh6.4 billion cocaine haul. The report questioned the role of senior Government officials in the matter, among them senior police officers.
