Outrage as Police summon Standard Group boss, KTN reporters over Westgate story
Updated Friday, October 25th 2013 at 08:07 GMT +3
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| Hooded gunmen raided Westgate Mall last month, killing 67 people and wounding several others according to official reports. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD] |
NAIROBI, KENYA: In what could be the first assault on media freedom under the Jubilee government, police have targeted the Standard Group over a report aired on television station KTN. Police are seeking the Group’s Chief Executive Sam Shollei and two KTN journalists, Mohammed Ali and John-Allan Namu, over the investigative report on the Westgate Mall terrorist attack.
Head of Kilimani CID George Ojuka said police had wanted the three to appear before them on Thursday but were informed that Mr Shollei was out of town.
Police summons signed by Mr Ojuka addressed to Mr Shollei and copied to the two journalists compel the trio to report to him this morning to answer to charges of “unlawful sending of misleading messages”.
The misleading messages apparently refer to an investigative series run on KTN titled “Zilizala la Westgate” and “Wolves at Westgate”.
Ojuka alleges that the series, which offered insights into events at the mall after the Al-Shabaab gunmen struck, was not factual. The journalists relied on CCTV footage that captured events inside the mall during the siege and which had been widely broadcast both locally and internationally.
“…I do require you Sham (sic) Shollei to attend before me George Ojuka, the DCIO Kilimani at Kilimani CID offices situated at Kilimani Police Division, Nairobi, on Friday the 25th day of October at 0900 hours,” read the summons.
SLIPPED OUT
The officer warns that, “failure to comply with this requisition comprises an offence.”
The investigative series raised questions about official accounts of events during the Westgate siege. The footage at one point showed the four gunmen looking relaxed in a section of the mall before one moves the CCTV cameras. Questions were raised about whether they slipped out of the mall unnoticed. More contentious footage shows soldiers carrying white plastic bags. Authorities have explained that the soldiers had taken bottles of water to quench their thirst. Questions were also raised about the cause of the extensive damage to the building after three floors collapsed.
Police said they have launched investigations into the source of the Westgate Mall footage that showed soldiers carrying items from Nakumatt Supermarket.
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