A Nairobi court has freed activist Boniface Mwangi and his four co-accused who were arrested on suspicion of false publication and unlawful assembling.

In releasing them, Milimani Principal Magistrate Gilbert Shikwe rejected an application by the prosecution seeking more time to conclude investigations.

Police Inspector George Karanja who was not present in court had sought two more weeks to conclude investigations.

State prosecutor Judy Koech pleaded with the court to give the officer two weeks to finalise the remaining areas and prefer charges against Mwangi, Albert Wambugu, Robert Otieno, Pablo Chacha and Erot Franco.

“Your honor I am praying for two weeks to have the officer conclude the remaining bit of investigation,” Koech prayed, telling the magistrate that the officer has not concluded the process of forensic analysis on their phones.

The defense vehemently opposed the application arguing that the prosecution had been given adequate time to conclude investigations.

“Your honor, the application was brought before this court on July 26, 2024 prosecution seeking detention of the suspects for 21 days to investigate them and today they are seeking for more time,” the defense protested, urging the court to dismiss the application.

In his ruling, the magistrate declined to grant the time sought saying it will not be in good faith since the officer investigating the matter did not appear in court or produce documents supporting his prayers.

“This court has declined the application by the applicant who is not in court because there is no document produced in this court proving how far they have gone in their investigations,” the magistrate said.

“I hereby ordered the suspects to be discharged and cash bail refunded to the depositors,” ordered the magistrate.

The five suspects were arrested on July 25, and were arraigned the following day under a miscellaneous application where Karanja sought to have them detained for 21 days to conclude investigations.

They were investigated for alleged false publication, taking part in an unlawful assembly and creating disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace. The officer claimed that on Thursday, July 25, at around 11:30am or thereabouts along Koinange Street, Nairobi county, the five caused a breach of peace.