The Police Reforms Working Group (PRWG-K) has condemned the recent arrest of four independent filmmakers linked to the BBC documentary, which exposed the killings of the June 25, 2024 protests along Parliament Road.

In a strongly worded statement on Saturday, May 3, 2025, the group indicated that the police should refocus their energies on investigating the officers and KDF officers implicated in the shootings, which claimed the lives of the youth.

“The Police Reforms Working Group-Kenya (PRWG-K) condemns the arrest of four independent film producers, Nicholas Gichuki, Brian Adagala, Mark Karubiu, and Chris Wamae, and the seizure of their equipment last night,” PRWG-K said.

Released on free bond

“While the four film producers have since been released on free bond, we call on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to drop the charges of ‘false publication’ against the four and release their equipment to them.”

The group stated that it was worrying that the raid was happening on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day, observing that scapegoating critics only adds to the confusion in the government.

“Furthermore, we call on the National Police Services to concentrate its vast investigative resources on finding and charging the Kenya Defence Services and Police officers that have been identified in the BBC Blood Parliament documentary as suspected to have killed Ericcson Mutisya, David Chege, Eric Shieni, and the other 60 protesters. This is where the public interest lies,” the group stated.

“That this crackdown occurred on the eve of World Press Freedom Day is shocking. The arrests violate the constitutionally protected right to expression (Art. 33) and freedom of the media (Art. 34) as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Art. 9), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“This crackdown also contradicts the commitment given by the Attorney General on behalf of the Government to uphold human rights during the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva barely two days ago, on May 1.

Picked up at night

The four filmmakers are reported to have been picked up by the police on the night of Friday, May 2, 2025, from their studio in Karen, under unclear circumstances.

STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF INDEPENDENT FILM PRODUCERS ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
Police Reforms Working Group condemns arrests of independent film producers Nicholas Gichuki, Brian Adagala, Mark Karubiu, & Chris Wamae last night.
We call on the @DCI_Kenya to concentrate its vast… pic.twitter.com/rRw41Lqjrc

— Amnesty Kenya (@AmnestyKenya) May 3, 2025

They were separated into two groups upon their arrest, with Gichuki and Adagala being held at the Pangani Police station, as revealed by lawyer Ian Mutiso.

Karubiu and Wamae are reportedly being held at Muthaiga station. However, authorities have not publicly stated the reasons for their arrest.

The arrests resulted in a public outcry, with activists demanding to know the reason behind the rounding up of the four, noting that they were not part of the crew that filmed the BBC documentary.

“The police have arrested three filmmakers, Nicholas Wambugu, Brian Adagala, MarkDenver Karubiu, and Chris Wamae, at their offices at Karen Village. The police confiscated their equipment and hard drives. One of them managed to make a call and said they have been split into two groups, one headed to Pangani Police Station and the other to Muthaiga,” activist Boniface Mwangi said.