Court rules chaos shooting officer has a case to answer

By Wahome Thuku

A police officer accused of killing two demonstrators during post-election violence has a case to answer.

Mr Edward Kirui, who is on murder trial, was put on his defence yesterday by presiding judge Fred Ochieng.

He is being tried for the murder of Ismail Chacha and William Onyango at Kondele market in Kisumu, on January 16 2008.

KTN crew filmed a lone police officer ambushing the two unarmed youths and shooting them down in cold blood. The officer brandished an AK47 rifle and wore jungle combat gear and a helmet.

Kirui, who has denied the charges, is the only suspect being tried in connection to post-election killings.

Some 21 witnesses were called to testify in the trial. His lawyer Johnstone Mitey asked the court in November last year to acquit the accused, saying no case had been made out to put him on his defence.

Proof of identity

Mr Mitey, a retired judge, argued the State had failed to prove the identity of the two victims.

"The court can not assume the two people were actually the same as those in the charge sheet," Mitey submitted. He said the video clip played in court did not establish the identity of his client as the culprit.

State counsel Victor Mule, however, said a combination of direct and circumstantial evidence had narrowed down to Kirui as the culprit.

He said the officer used excessive force yet he was not under any imminent danger, as the two men were not armed.

He said the firearm issued to the officer was positively linked to the killing through a bullet head recovered from the victims’ bodies.

Mule said the State had proved the officer had malice aforethought during the shooting, which was an ingredient for murder.

Yesterday, Justice Ochieng’ said it was clear the two men were shot dead and the accused was one of the officers at the scene.

He said from the video clip, it was not easy to identify the officer, who was in jangle combat gear and a helmet. But the judge said that at one point, the officer raised his helmet.

The court also noted bullet heads retrieved from the bodies of the deceased appeared to have been linked to the gun issued to the officer.