Il Nuovo Postiglione - Arrested Kenyan activist faces terror charges

At least 19 people were killed during the June 25 demonstration against President William Ruto's government, which was itself called to pay tribute to victims of police violence at another major protest on the same date last year.

Mwangi, who was arrested at his home near Nairobi, is being held at a police station in the capital and will be arraigned on Monday, Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on X.

The activist denies the charges, saying in a social media post shared by his supporters: "I am not a terrorist."

His detention triggered a wave of condemnation online, with the hashtag #FreeBonifaceMwangi going viral.

Rights groups also condemned his arrest.

The search warrant police used to raid Mwangi's home, which an ally shared with journalists, accuses the campaigner of having paid "goons" to stoke unrest at last month's protests.

However, 37 rights organisations, along with dozens of activists, said that none had yet managed to prove that a judge had indeed issued that warrant.

Mwangi's arrest on "unjustified terrorism allegations" represents an abuse of the justice system to crush the opposition, the organisations said in a joint statement.

"What began as targeted persecution of young protesters demanding accountability has metastasized into a full-scale assault on Kenya's democracy," the groups said.

Investigators said they had seized two mobile phones, a laptop and several notebooks from Mwangi's home in Lukenya, east of the capital, plus hard drives, two more computers, two unused tear gas canisters and a blank firearm cartridge from his office in Nairobi.

Mwangi, a former photojournalist, has been arrested multiple times in Kenya.

He was also arrested on May 19 in Dar es Salaam, neighbouring Tanzania's largest city, while turning out in support of treason-accused Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

Both Mwangi and a fellow detainee, award-winning Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire, accuse the police of torturing and sexually abusing them while they were in custody.

The pair have brought a case to the East African Court of Justice.

Since the start of the mass protest movement in Kenya last year, Ruto has faced sharp criticism over a series of abductions and police violence.

Rights groups say more than 100 people have been killed since the beginning of the protests, which were harshly suppressed.

Q.Bernardi--INP