Thirteen Kenyan security officers have denied charges of murdering two Indian nationals and their Kenyan driver in 2022, in a case widely seen as politically sensitive, their lawyer said on Friday.
The defendants, comprising police officers, a national intelligence operative, and a wildlife warden, appeared before a judge on Thursday in connection with the deaths of Kenyan driver Nicodemus Mwania Mwange and Indian nationals Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai and Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan.
“It is a political case. Our clients are innocent,” defence lawyer Danstan Omari told AFP.
According to media reports, the two Indian men were said to have been involved in President William Ruto’s successful 2022 election campaign. They were allegedly abducted and killed in July 2022, just weeks before the election, with investigators testifying in court that their bodies were dumped in a forest.
The accused officers were part of a police unit implicated in extrajudicial killings. The unit was disbanded by Ruto approximately three months after the murders.
The suspects have been held in custody for two and a half years, facing allegations of abducting the three victims, the defence lawyer stated.
On Thursday, prosecutors formally charged them with murder, and they all pleaded not guilty.
In 2022, the BBC reported that Kidwai’s wife had stated he was in Kenya for tourism.
The court in Kiambu, near Nairobi, has scheduled 20 March to deliver a ruling on the suspects’ bail application, according to a statement from the state prosecution service.
