Kenyan police Thursday cancelled an order summoning journalists for questioning over an investigative report that showed security forces looting during the massacre at Westgate mall and raised questions about official accounts of events. Police had summoned the Standard Group chief executive Sam Shollei and KTN investigative reporters John-Allan Namu and Mohammed Ali for interrogation, but an Interior Ministry official late Thursday said the order had been retracted, AFP reported. After wide consultations, the summons have been cancelled, said the unnamed official, who was not authorised to speak to the media. The journalists and their CEO are not required to record statements anymore. He said but neither police nor the reporters could immediately be reached for comment. George Ojuka, a senior Nairobi police commander who announced the summons, said that sections of an hour-long KTN television documentary were grossly misinforming and inciting. The order for the two reporters and television executive to appear for questioning sparked anger from press rights groups and other news agencies. Kenyas Daily Nation newspaper put Kenyan Police Inspector General David Kimaiyos warning to journalists on its front page under the headline Intimidation. The Standard newspaper, which has the same owners as KTN, published a cartoon that shows a journalist silenced by a giant padlock through his lip marked press freedom, as a government official walks away with the key. Citizen News said it was a sad day for Kenyas media, which is witnessing the unacceptable return of the outdated repression of the fundamental freedoms and rights integral to the industry.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 08:46:57 +0000
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