Court acquits five GSU officers in torture case against Samburu herdsman

Five General Service Unit (GSU) officers reportedly captured on tape torturing a Samburu herdsman in 2009 have been let off the hook for lack of evidence.

The five officers faced trial for six years on a charge of causing grievous harm. They had been arrested on the strength of a video clip aired on the media that depicted them stripping the 18-year old naked, before tying him up and mercilessly bludgeoning his private parts.

The five - Francis Mwangi, Joseph Kipyegon, Edward Kalima, Calister Chengo and Daniel Maina walked to freedom after the trial court ruled that the 'authenticity' of the clip in which they were shown thrashing Joseph Rippo near Kerita GSU camp in Trans Nzoia in 2009 "would not be proved beyond reasonable doubt".

The footage had been shot on a mobile phone and sneaked to the media, according to the evidence heard during the trial. The officers had been interdicted thereafter and faced life imprisonment under the penal code for the offence.

A doctor who treated Rippo and was a witness in the case confirmed that his testicles were crushed and that he suffered a forceful castration. The video clip was presented in the case as part of the evidence but Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Elena Nderitu in her judgement said "it did not meet the threshold of being admitted as evidence before a court of law".

She also rejected additional still photographs downloaded from a phone memory card and instead upheld lawyer Ian Mbuthia's submission that the investigating officer who presented them was not the one who took the pictures. She also noted that a GSU officer who reportedly captured the incident was declared a hostile witness after he recanted evidence