A Nairobi court has dismissed the cybercrime case against activist Morara Kebaso, who was injured by goons at the Bomas of Kenya today, after finding that the charges against him are defective.
Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina, who dismissed his case in absentia, said the law under which he was charged is not in consonance with what he is accused of.
In discharging Kebaso, he said the charge was for an offence known to the law, but that the particular offence didn’t capture the requisite elements of the offence as defined under the Cybercrime Act.
“I find objections raised by the defence lawyers led by Senior Counsel Martha Karua ,Njiru Ndegwa, Levi Munyeri and Eugene Wamalwa among others as merited and therefore the charge presented before this court is rejected for being defective. The accused person is accordingly discharged,” Chief magistrate Onyina ruled.
The decision to discharge Mr Kebaso was made in his absence after his lawyer Pareno Solonka told the court that he was attacked by thugs at Bomas of Kenya.
“The suspect is not present in court after he was attacked and seriously injured by thugs while attending public participation at the Bomas of Kenya. He was whisked away by the police and is currently in a Nairobi hospital with serious injuries,” Mr Solonka told the court.
The lawyer produced medical records and a report from Nairobi Hospital showing that he had been admitted and was receiving treatment.
Chief Magistrate Onyina ordered that the Sh50,000 cash bail he had posted be refunded to the depositor.
