Court stops arrest of UN staff suspected of terrorism

A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees official has secured court orders to temporarily stop his arrest on terror allegations until a suit he has filed is determined.

High Court Judge George Odunga further directed that State agents should desist from harassing Abdrizak Hussein Shaffat.

Mr Shaffat filed the suit through lawyer Gitobu Imanyara seeking to stop the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Inspector General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations from arresting him and having him charged on terror charges.

The matter came up last week before Justice Weldon Korir, who said that further directions would be issued after all the parties listed in the case are served with the suit papers.

The suit was filed on his behalf by his brother Abdikalib Hussein, who maintained that Shaffat was innocent.

The court heard that Shaffat is based at the Hagadera Refugee Camp. "Shaffat does not have any means of knowing whether the various people he receives calls from are involved in any criminal activities or if they belong to terrorist-related groups," the lawyer said.