NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 21 — The court will rule Friday whether Embakasi East MP Babu Owino should be freed on bail in a subversion case.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Lukas Onyina was expected to make the ruling after adjourning Thursday when he ordered the prosecution to ensure he is taken to hospital following complaints of health issues.
Owino was presented in court on Thursday and charged with subversion alongside six others following his arrest on Tuesday.
He was arraigned in court together with Calvin Okoth Otieno alias ‘Gaucho’ who stirred an online backlash after slaughtering a goat in full glare of cameras and licked its raw blood while daring government officials he accused of threatening Azimio leader Raila Odinga.
Gaucho made the statement on Tuesday, a day before the planned resumption of anti-government protests called by Odinga.
Appearing in court on Thursday, the State challenged a bid by lawyers representing the accused persons to have them released on bail citing national security concerns.
Lawyers representing the seven accused persons contested the State’s objection decrying the arbitrary detention of accused persons outside the 24-hour period provided for in law.
The lawyers cited Article 49 of the Constitution (2010) which requires the State to produce arrested persons in court “as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than– (i) twenty-four hours after being arrested”.
